The downtown Parish church is situated at Március 15 square at Budapest, it was build on the walls of the fortress of Contra Aquincum. This is the oldest building of Pest. In 1046 Gellért bishop was buried here. In 1241 the Tartars burnt the city, the people of Pest were killed cruelly in the city’s church which is the today’s downtown Parish church, where they assembled to pray.
In the 14th century with the support of king Sigismund it was rebuilt in gothic style. Under the rule of king Matthias the church was extended with two other aisles. The souvenir of the Turk era, when it was used as a mosque, is the mihrab (prayers’ chamber) in the south-eastern wall of the sanctuary. The baroque style renovation passed off between 1725-1739 under the leading of János György Pauer (1692-1752), who was a German born architect.
In our days the outside of the church is neglected, in spite of that it was renovated several times: between 1805 and 1808, János Hild, in 1889 Imre Steindl, after 1945 László Gerő were the leaders of the restorations. The paintings of the internal of the church were renovated in 1976-77.
According to the rumours, at time of the building of the Elisabeth bridge, the church had to be relocated. This isn’t true, at the construction arose the question of displacing the church, but finally the church was emerged with the axle of the bridge.
Budapest, Március 15. tér
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