Szent István-bazilika
Budapest
St. Stephen's Basilica is the largest Catholic church in Budapest. With its two belfries and its great dome, it rises above the whole Lipótváros district.
Fifty years of building
Work began in 1851, to a design by the architect József Hild. When he died in 1867, Miklós Ybl took over.
On 22 January 1868 the dome collapsed. The stones of the pillars were of uneven quality and the weight was badly spread. Ybl redrew the plans and work started again in 1875.
Ybl died in 1891. József Kauser followed him and finished the decorations. The church was consecrated in 1905.
What to look at from outside
Hild had planned a classical church. From 1875 Ybl turned it into the Neo-Renaissance style: look at the columns and windows.
The dome is 96 metres tall. Around the drum, the part that holds it up, four niches each hold a seated statue.
The belfries
The belfries rise on either side of the façade, to the north-west and the south-west. The south-west one holds the heaviest bronze in the country: more than nine tonnes.
A square for everyone
In front of the church, Szent István tér is a large pedestrian square. Every 20 August the procession for St Stephen's Day sets off from here.
