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The royal basilica was built by St. Stephen. The basilica, which was damaged and rebuilt several times, served as a coronation and burial place of our kings until 1543. The ruins' garden has become a national place of pilgrimage. In the cathedral, the building of which was completed by 1003, 43 kings were crowned and the national treasury, the archives and the regalia were also preserved here. Until the Turkish occupation of 1543 it was the most important and most sacred place of the mediaeval Hungarian state. The Turks used it as a gunpowder store, which exploded during the besiege of the city in 1601. Its stones were used for the building of the foundation of the episcopal palace in 1800-1801. Archaeologists found the largest part of the basilica, which has been open to the public as an open-air ruins' garden. In its mausoleum you can see St. Stephen's sarcophagus and a historical fresco-secco by Miklós Aba Novák: the baptism of Vajk, the events of the history of the Holy Crown, the legend of the Holy Right Hand and the outstanding figures, kings of the Hungarian history, as well as public figures of the period can be seen on the walls.