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The cross on top of Hungary's largest church, the magnificent Esztergom Cathedral, has been hiding a 176-year-old time capsule that was only recovered during renovation work this year.
The sealed copper canister was inside the cross on the 100-metre dome, the highest in Hungary, which survived being bombed during World War Two.
The container was also badly damaged by shrapnel but when they opened it, historians discovered documents in near-perfect condition relating to the cathedral's construction.
Csaba Torok, director of the Cathedral's Treasury, said the papers gave a rare glimpse of the time when the church was built from 1822 onwards.
The cylindrical capsule was placed in the cross in 1845 by Archbishop Jozsef Kopacsy and chief architect Jozsef Hild, who took over after his predecessor was murdered.
"Archbishop Kopacsy knew he would not be able to complete the construction in his lifetime, so when the cross was finished he wanted to leave inside an imprint of the memory of the builders and of that era," Torok said.
The sealed copper canister was inside the cross on the 100-metre dome, the highest in Hungary, which survived being bombed during World War Two.
The container was also badly damaged by shrapnel but when they opened it, historians discovered documents in near-perfect condition relating to the cathedral's construction.
Csaba Torok, director of the Cathedral's Treasury, said the papers gave a rare glimpse of the time when the church was built from 1822 onwards.
The cylindrical capsule was placed in the cross in 1845 by Archbishop Jozsef Kopacsy and chief architect Jozsef Hild, who took over after his predecessor was murdered.
"Archbishop Kopacsy knew he would not be able to complete the construction in his lifetime, so when the cross was finished he wanted to leave inside an imprint of the memory of the builders and of that era," Torok said.
176-year-old time capsule revealed in cross on Hungarian cathedral
The cross on top of Hungary's largest church, the magnificent Esztergom Cathedral, has been hiding a 176-year-old time capsule that was only recovered during renovation work this year.
www.reuters.com
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