Prakfalvi Endre: Roman Catholic Churches in Unified Budapest - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2003)

The Hungarian Church of the Holy Land, 1949

■ View oh the church from the east

centre, in place of the main altar as it were—the empty tomb being the major proof of Christ's resurrection. The first plans for the main front were dominated by the five-part cross of Jerusalem (referring to the five stigmata of Christ). The fourth and final variant alluded to the fayade of the Holy Tomb Basilica.

After the war, supervision of the construction was taken over by Jenő Szend- rői. The political changes in general and the expulsion of the Franciscan order from Hungary in particular put an end to the project, despite the fact that the cradling for the shell-dome to cover the central space, a structure 34 metres in diameter along its longest axis, was already in place by 1949.

This ill-fated building could have become an outstanding achievement of Hungary’s original (inter-war) modern architecture. The future of its torso is still undecided, even though its preservation would constitute a valuable addition to Hungary's architectural heritage.

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