The last right-bank station of the Danube Bend is Esztergom, the Western gate of the region.

Esztergom is the seat of the archbishop of Esztergom, the primate of the Hungarian Catholic Church. St. Stephen (970?-1038), the first Hungarian king and founder of the country, was born in the castle erected here in around 970.

Built on Castle Hill in the first half of the 19th century, the Classicist cathedral on Szent István tér is the country's largest church with the world's largest altarpiece, painted on a single piece of canvas. The cathedral incorporates the early 16th-century red marble Bakócz Chapel, the only intact Renaissance edifice in Hungary. The Treasury of the Cathedral exhibits the richest collection of Hungarian ecclesiastical art of some 400 items. The private royal chapel, the frescoed castle chapel and a rose window in the vicinity of the cathedral are remainders of a Romanesque royal palace. The Castle Museum in the restored halls of the palace of Árpád kings traces the history of the castle in Esztergom. The head of the Hungarian Catholic Church resides at the Primate's Palace, which also houses the Christian Museum exhibiting the most valuable pieces of medieval Hungarian fine arts. The Baroque ambience on Széchenyi tér is created by middle-class houses and the City Hall. Topped by two spires, its parish church (1724-28) is a unique monument of Italian Baroque architecture.

‘Here is the Hungarian Rome!' wrote Mihály Babits, one of the greatest poets of the last century, about Esztergom in one of his works. Indeed, this city has been the capital of Hungarian catholicism for a thousand years, it has been the residence of archbishops. Here, in the city which was the capital of Hungary for more than 250 years, was born the first Hunganan king Saint Stephen in the second half of the 10th century and he was also crowned here at Christmas of the year 1000. This is the date of the foundation of the Hungarian state.

The Hungarian archbishops, among them the martyr Hungarian pontiff Cardinal Mindszenty, are buried in the crypt of the cathedral.

Only a few meters away from the Basilica there is the royal (later archiespiscopal) palace, the ancien nest of the Árpád dynasty, which looks grandiose even in its ruins. The originally Romasque palace group which was rebuilt several times in different ages used to be one of Europe’s most beautiful castle whose beauty was noted by the French king, Louis VII who visited the place and by the chronicles of Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor.

Looking down into the nearly 80 m abyss from the terrace of the royal palace the view of the ancient city and the river which flows with dignity in its bed can be seen. Centuries before the foundation of the state there used to be a Roman fortress of Solva Mansio in the place of the palace; the emperor Marcus Aurelius could watch his legions crossing the river from here. The Hungarian kings also delighted in the sight of the almost completely circular panorama for centuries. From this point 5 ranges of mountains can be seen, and when the weather is clear even the peaks of the Low Tatras can be made out!