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Below the castle ramparts lies the picturesque Vizivaros (Watertown), a small district of Baroque churches and seminaries where practising choirs are audible along the streets. Turning into Pazmany utca, you come to the Balint Balassi Museum at no. 13 (Tues-Sun 9am-5pm; 100Ft), which mounts temporary historical exhibitions rather than dwelling on the romantic poet Balint Balassi (1554-94), who died trying to recapture Esztergom from the Turks. This half-crazed philanderer was famous for sexually assaulting women and then dedicating verses to them - behaviour that resulted in him being beaten unconscious on several occasions. A couple of minutes further on you'll come to the Italianate Baroque Vizivaros Parish Church and the old Primate's Palace at Berenyi utca 2. The latter now houses the Christian Museum (Tues-Sun 10am-6pm; 250Ft), Hungary's richest hoard of religious art, which includes the largest collection of Italian prints outside Italy, Renaissance paintings and wood carvings by German and Austrian masters, and the unique "Lord's Coffin of Garamszentbenedek" - a wheeled, gilded structure used in Easter Week processions, from around 1480. From the parish church you can cross a bridge onto Primas Sziget (Primate's Island), a popular tourist spot with a couple of hotels, a restaurant, campsite and sporting facilities. A  © 2003 by Rough Guides Ltd. as trustee for its Authors. Published by Rough Guides. All rights reserved. Rough Guides name is a trademark of Rough Guides Ltd. Buy the book here!
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little way south of the landing stage for ferries to Sturovo is the reconstructed Maria Valeria bridge that connects the two towns. Blown up by retreating Germans at the end of World War II, the bridge was left neglected until, after years of wrangling and protracted negotiations between Hungarian and Slovakian ministers, an inter-governmental agreement to rebuild the bridge was finally signed in 1999. The renovated Customs House houses a free exhibition on the history of the bridge.
Your Tips For Vizivaros and Primas Sziget
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