Blue Church

The Blue Church

The Church of St. Elizabeth (Slovak: Kostol svätej Alžbety, Hungarian: Szent Erzsébet templom), commonly known as Blue Church (Modrý kostolík, Kék templom), is a Hungarian Secessionist (Jugendstil, Art Nouveau) Catholic church located in the eastern part of the Old Town in Bratislava, Slovakia. It is consecrated to Elisabeth of Hungary, daughter of Andrew II, who grew up in the Pressburg Castle (pozsonyi vár). It is referred to as "The Little Blue Church" because of the colour of its façade, mosaics, majolicas and blue-glazed roof. It was initially part of the neighboring gymnázium (high school) and served as the school chapel.

Architecture

The one-nave church was built in 1907-1908, four years after the plans of Ödön Lechner to build a church in the Hungarian Art Nouveau style. The so-called Hungarian secessionist style forms dominate in the church. Lechner also drew plans of the neighbouring gymnázium (high school) and of the vicarage (also in the Hungarian Secessionist style).

The ground floor of the church is oval. In the foreground there is a 36.8 metre high cylindrical church tower. At first, a cupola was planned, but was never constructed; instead, a barrel vault was built, topped by a hip roof. The roof is covered with glazed bricks with decoration, for the purpose of parting.

The main and side entrances are enclosed with Romanesque double-pillars, which have an Oriental feeling. Pillars are also located near the windows.

The façade was at first painted with light pastel colours. Later the church got its characteristic blue colour. A line of blue tiles and wave-strip encircles the church.

Interior

The interior is richly decorated with altarpieces. On the altar there is an illustration of St Elizabeth, depicted giving alms to the poor.

A model of the church is in Mini-Europe in Brussels, representing Slovakia.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blue Church (Bratislava).

Part of the information in this article is based on its German equivalent.
Lacika, Ján (2000). Bratislava. Visiting Slovakia (1st ed.). Bratislava, Slovakia: DAJAMA. ISBN 80-88975-16-6. External link in |publisher= (help)

Coordinates: 48°08′36.2″N 17°07′00.6″E / 48.143389°N 17.116833°E / 48.143389; 17.116833

Churches in Bratislava

Medieval	Saint James's Chapel Franciscan Church St. Martin's Cathedral

16th - 19th century	Chapel of Saint Rozalia Church Mena Panny Márie Jesuit Church, Bratislava St. Nicholas' Church, Bratislava Temple of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Trinitarian Church of Bratislava

20th - 21st century	Holy Family Church St. Elisabeth's Church Holy Spirit Church Dúbravka Lutheran Church

See also: Old Town, Bratislava, History of Bratislava, List of palaces in Bratislava

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.