Assisi Szent Ferenc-templom

Assisi Szent Ferenc-templom rises above Bakáts Square with a broad façade, pointed gable and tall central tower. Its French Romanesque design combines entrance columns, two smaller turrets and an octagonal spire. The cross-shaped basilica forms one of the largest churches in its district. Above the portal, Feszler’s Christ sculpture faces Szász’s Saint Francis higher on the façade.

Miklós Ybl built the church during the nineteenth century after the earlier building was destroyed by the great flood of 1838. During construction, worship took place in the crypt, whose neo-Romanesque columns now frame part of an urn cemetery. Inside, Károly Lotz and Mór Than cover the walls with vivid frescoes, while Ferenczy’s Saint Anthony and Strobl’s Saint Francis add sculptural focus. War damaged the painted vaults and stained glass, yet restoration completed in 2019 renewed the interior. Three bells remain in the tower, alongside wrought ironwork and coloured windows that preserve the building’s layered history.