Szatmári Gizella: Walks in the Castle District - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2001)
interpreted by the superstitious Turks as an ill omen foreshadowing the victory of the Emperor’s army. (There is a red marble statue of the Virgin Mary in the church’s Loreto Chapel, but this is of later origin, possibly dating from around 1715.) The church was used by the Franciscan order in the 18th century, later to be transferred to the Jesuits. It was between its walls that, following the Austro- Hungarian Compromise, Francis Joseph 1 and his wife Elizabeth were crowned King and Queen of Hungary in 1867. During the preparations for the Millenary Celebrations of 1896, the reconstruction of the church and its extrication from the stifling vicinity of the Baroque buildings surrounding it on every side became due. Work started as early as 1874 and architect Frigyes Schulek intended to restore the church to its 13th century appearance. To achieve this, he sacrificed several later additions (including the vaults and the Gothic chapels built in the 15th century) or else he rebuilt them to fit his own ideas. However, Schulek replaced the damaged sections, the capitals and the consoles wherever he could, depositing the originals in museums. A few of the fragments can be seen in the crypt. The painting on the interior walls and the stained glass windows are the work of Bertalan Székely and Károly Lotz. The pictures by these prominent masters of the 19th century depict the most momentous events in Hungary’s history, the wondrous legends surrounding these events and the deeds, real or legendary, of the Hungarian saints. The sculptures were made by Ferenc Mikula. The stone relics in the rich collection of the church’s museum, the fine liturgical metalwork and textiles in its treasury, together with the statues amply illustrate the history of the building up to the 20th century. Nearby, by the southern spires of the architectural complex of squat towers topped with tall, pointed cones, vaulted corridors and stairs, which is known as the Fishermen’s Bastion, stands an equestrian statue of King St. Stephen, the work of Alajos Stróbl (1906). The idea of erecting the statue had been in the air since 1863, and even a fund-raising campaign had been launched to advance the project. Although some 34
