Mátyás Church 5
Mátyás templom
The Parish Church of Our Lady Mary was
built on this site between the 13th and 15th
centuries. Some of the architec tural style
dates from the reign of Sigismund of
Luxembourg, but the church was named
after King Mátyás Corvinus, one of the
greatest Hungarian rulers. Much of the
original detail was lost when the Ottomans
con verted the church into the Great Mosque
in 1541. The liber a tion of Buda saw the
church almost totally des troyed, but it was
rebuilt in the Baroque style by the
Franciscan friars. It sustained fur ther dam age
in 1723 but was restored in the Neo-Gothic
style between 1873 and 1896 by the archi tect
Frigyes Schulek. The crypt houses the
Museum of Ecclesiastical Art.
342 CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE
STAR FEATURES. Baroque Madonna
. Tomb of King Béla III
and Anne de Châtillon
. Mary Portal
Béla Tower
Named after the church’s
founder, King Béla IV,
this tower has retained
several of its original
Gothic features.. Baroque Madonna
According to legend, the original
statue was set into a wall of the
church during the Ottoman
occpation. When the church was
des troyed in 1686, the statue mirac-
ulously appeared. The Ottomans
took this as an omen of defeat.
Main Portal
Below the arches of
the west entrance is an
impressive 19th-century
bas-relief by sculptor Lajos
Lantai showing the
Madonna and Child
seated between two angels.Rose Window
Architect Frigyes Schulek
faithfully repro duced
in stone, the medieval
stained-glass window to its
original Gothic style.For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp390–93 and pp394–7