The crypt of St. Stephen’s Basilica has been used for immuring urns and coffins since 1996. It serves as final resting place for a number of famous athletes, performers and other notable people.
This is where the most famous Hungarian football player in the world, Ferenc Puskás, has been laid to rest. Puskás was awarded the title of The Nation’s Athlete, won a gold medal at the Olympics, a silver at the world championships, and was three-time European Champion Clubs’ Cup with Real Madrid. As one of the greatest forwards who ever lived, Puskás was highly successful during his life and is remembered by sports historians as one of the most prominent football players on the international scene. To this day, his name is familiar to people all around the world. He played forward when he led the national team to the final of the 1954 World Cup: to this day, in Hungary the team is referred to as the Golden Team. After his career as a player, he achieved significant success as a manager, including managing the Hungarian national team. Puskás died in 2006 at the age of 79. Large crowds accompanied him along his final journey to the Basilica. The largest capacity sports stadium in Hungary, Puskás Arena bears his name.
Other members of the Golden Team laid to rest in the crypt are Sándor Kocsis (1929–1979), Gyula Grosics (1926–2014), and Jenő Buzánszky (1925-1915).
Bishop György Snell has also been placed in the crypt, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 71 due to a coronavirus infection. György Snell was coadjutor bishop of Esztergom and Budapest, parish priest of St. Stephen’s Basilica, and a Guard of the Holy Right. He completed his studies at the Central Seminary and the Archbishop's Seminary of Eger and was ordained a priest in Eger on April 3, 1972. He was awarded the title of Titular Abbot in 1999 and Master Canon in 2009. On October 20, 2014, Pope Francis appointed him coadjutor bishop of the Archdiocese of Esztergom and Budapest. He was ordained bishop in St. Stephen’s Basilica by Cardinal Péter Erdő on December 6, 2014. Bishop Snell served as the Director of the Catholic School Authority for the Archdiocese of Esztergom and Budapest between 2003 and 2014 and was parish priest of St. Stephen’s Basilica from August 1, 2008 until his death.