Saint Francis of Assisi Church of Ferencváros, Parish church in Ferencváros district, Budapest, Hungary.
Saint Francis of Assisi Church is a three-nave Catholic parish church with a transept on Bakáts tér in Budapest's Ferencváros district, the largest church in the district. Miklós Ybl built it between 1867 and 1879 in an eclectic style following French Romanesque models. A single octagonal-helmeted bell tower stands before the facade, flanked by two small turrets, and the whole church sits above a neo-Romanesque pillared crypt with a transept.
A parish existed here since the years after the Mongol invasion; its medieval church was destroyed under Ottoman rule. In 1822 the Pest Franciscans were charged with organising a new parish, and a church built that year was damaged in the 1838 flood. Miklós Ybl built the present church between 1867 and 1879 in French Romanesque style; it was consecrated on 24 April 1879. After World War II László Gerő restored it, and renovation begun in 2017 renewed the facade and church garden by 2019.
The parish was run by Franciscan friars from 1822 until the archdiocese took it over in 1900, and three new parishes split off from it in 1923. The church keeps its name from the Franciscan order, and its patron saint appears on the facade in a statue by Gyula Szász.
The church stands on Bakáts tér in District IX, the largest church in Ferencváros. The facade and church garden were renewed in the first renovation phase completed in 2019, and an urn cemetery was created in the neo-Romanesque crypt beneath the whole building. The interior renovation began in autumn 2019, so parts of the nave may be affected.
The whole church sits above a Neo-Romanesque crypt with columns and a transept, which served as the church during construction. In 2019 the crypt was converted into a columbarium for urns. The tower holds three bells, and the north outer wall carries a Saint Francis statue by Alajos Strobl.
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