Solium Regni ¬Exhibition and Stone Garden, Coronation Basilica National Monument Visitor Centre

Architects: Tibor Gerzsenyi, Tamás Karácsony
Text: Péter Klobusovszki
Photos: Tamás Réthey-Prikkel

The ruins of the Royal Basilica in Székesfehérvár as well as the ruins of the Royal Monastery of St. Stephen, and the surrounding complex of buildings were completed in 1938, on the 900th anniversary of the death of King St. Stephen. Several attempts to renew the complex have been made during the intervening years, and the debate over the fate of the ruins and their associated artefacts has reached an important stage. The conversion of the former cinema, a few hundred metres from the site and closed 15 years ago, has resulted in the creation of an exhibition space and a stone museum dedicated to the memory of the Royal Basilica, which also serves as a temporary visitors’ centre for the Coronation Basilica National Monument. The complex, which is part of King St. Stephen Museum in Székesfehérvár, has been named Solium Regni – which means “Throne of the Kingdom” ¬¬- in reference to the royal throne of the former basilica, which is also the name of Fehérvár today. The aim of the new institution is to display and store the stones that had been scattered and later found, and to explore the history of the building, its architectural, art historical, cultural and political context.

Architects: Tibor Gerzsenyi, Tamás Karácsony DLA
Fellow architects: Zsolt Csík, Péter Dienes, Orsolya Glavanovics, Balázs Juhász, Orsolya Kern, Áron Lality, Mária Rádai, Ildikó Sebők, György Selényi
Architects of the exhibition installations: Tamás Karácsony DLA, Orsolya Kern; Bence Buzás, Krisztián Jäger
Structure: István Pozsgai†, Antal Ther, Attila Bognár, Balázs Bognár
Building technology plans: Anikó Jerkó, Zsolt Marosi, András Zöhls, László Sótér; Márton Méhész, Gábor Berey, Gábor Nagy, Mihály Labádi, Csaba Benka
Graphics: Zsolt Czakó
Curator of the exhibition: Piroska Biczó
Main contractor: Fehérép Ltd.