Szent Miklós-templom, Catholic church building in Kecskemét, Hungary.
The Szent Miklós-templom, also called the Barátok temploma or Franciscan church, is a Gothic building erected in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, later enlarged in several stages. Its nave and sanctuary were lengthened, the Szent Anna chapel was added, and the church was renovated in Baroque style between 1777 and 1784. The tower, rebuilt in stone after the 1678 fire, was raised in copf style in 1799.
The Szent Miklós-templom is Kecskemét's oldest surviving building, erected in Gothic style at the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century. It was first documented in 1475. From 1647 Franciscan friars used it, hence its name 'Barátok temploma'. After a fire in 1678 the wooden tower was rebuilt in stone, and between 1777 and 1784 the church was renovated in Baroque style; its tower was raised in copf style in 1799.
Locals call it the Barátok temploma, the Friars' Church, because Franciscans took it over in 1647. Its fair is held on 6 December, the feast of Saint Nicholas, the town's patron, and the four bells cast by László Szlezák in Budapest in 1926 ring only on Sundays.
The church stands on Kecskemét's main square, separated from it by a wall; the Lourdes chapel was built against this wall between 1931 and 1933. Medieval ruins are visible in the courtyard, laid out in 1974 to plans by Antal Mayer. The bells ring only on Sundays, calling people to Mass at 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 and 17:30.
The church has four bells, all cast by László Szlezák in Budapest in 1926: the 1120 kg Szent Miklós, the 550 kg Szent Antal, the 290 kg Szent Ferenc and the 106 kg Szent Mihály. Before World War I there were five, all requisitioned; the surviving wooden yokes suggest the largest weighed about 1600 kg.
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