Page 141 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Budapest

CENTR AL PEST  139

i Chapel of St Roch
Szent Rókus Kápolna
Gyulai Pál u 2. Map 7 A3. Tel (06 1) 338
35 15. @ 7. v 4, 6. q Blaha Lujza tér.
Pest town council built this
chapel in what was then an
uninhabited area. It was dedi­
cated to St Roch and St Rosalie,
who were believed to provide
protection against the plague,
which afflicted Pest in 1711.
In 1740 the chapel was ex ­
tended to its present size, and
a tower was added in 1797.
The façade is decorated with
Baroque figures of saints,
although the originals were
replaced with copies in 1908.
Inside, on the right­hand wall
of the chapel’s nave, is a paint­ Magnificent staircase inside the Festetics Palace on Mihály Pollack Square
ing of the Virgin Mary from
1740. A painting by Jakab p Hungarian Gyula Jungfer. Also worth
Warsch, depicting the Great National Museum particular attention are the
Flood of 1838, is in the oratory. richly gilded salons on the first
See pp134–7. floor, as well as the dome above
o Mihály Pollack an oval panel of reliefs.
In 1926, the city council
Square a Ervin Szabó acquired the building and
Pollack Mihály Tér Library converted it into a public
Map 7 A4 (10 F5). q Kálvin tér. Szabó Ervin Könyvtàr lending library, whose collec­
Festetics Palace: Tel (06 1) 266 31 01. Szabó Ervin tér 1. Map 7 A4 (10 F5). tion focuses on the city itself
8 by prior arrangement. Tel (06 1) 411 50 00. q Kálvin tér. and the social sciences.
Open 10am–8pm Mon–Fri, 10am– The Ervin Szabó Library was
At the rear of the Hungarian 4pm Sat. ∑ fszek.hu named after the politician and
National Museum (see pp134–7) social reformer Ervin Szabó
is a square named after Mihály In 1887, the wealthy industrialist (1877–1918), who was the
Pollack, the architect of several Wenckheim family commis­ library’s first director. It has over
Neo­Classical buildings such sioned the architect Artur Meinig a hundred branches throughout
as the museum and Sándor to build a Neo­Baroque and Budapest and some three
Palace (see p77). Rococo style palace. The result million books.
In the late 19th century, three was the former Wenckheim
palaces were built side by side Palace, regarded as one of
on this square for the aristo­ the most beautiful palaces in s Calvinist Church
cratic elite of Hungary: Prince Budapest. The magnificent Református Templom
Festetics, Prince Eszterházy and wrought­iron gates, dating Kálvin tér 7. Map 4 F2. Tel (06 1) 217
Count Károlyi. The beautiful from 1897, are the work of 67 69. q Kálvin tér. Open 6pm Thu;
façades makes this one of the 10am, 11:30am, 6pm Sun.
city’s most captivating squares.
Miklós Ybl (see p98) built the This single nave church was
French­Renaissance style palace designed by József Hofrichter
at No. 6 for Lajos Károlyi, in and built between 1816–30.
1863–5. The façade is decorated In 1848 József Hild designed
with sculptures by Károly Schaffer. the four­pillared façade and
There is also a covered driveway tympanum, and a spire was
for carri ages. Next door, at No. 8, added in 1859. Inside the
is a small palace, which was church, the pulpit and choir
built in 1865 for the Eszterházy gallery were designed by Hild
family by Alajos Baumgarten. At in 1831 and 1854 respectively.
No. 10 is the palace built for the The stained­glass windows are
Festetics family in 1862, again the work of Miksa Róth. Sacred
by Miklós Ybl. The interior, artifacts from the 17th and
especially the Neo­Baroque Spiral staircase in one of the rooms of 18th centuries are kept in the
staircase, is splendid. the Ervin Szabó Library church treasury.

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