Church of Our Lady of Sarlós
The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a historic Roman Catholic church in Újlak, in the Budapest II district of Hungary.
History
Above its main entrance is a Latin inscription (CREATORI 1705 CREATURA) announcing 1705 as the year the parish was founded.
The current building was erected between 1746 and 1766 by Kristóf Hamon and Máté Nöpauer.
The main altar was designed by Kristóf Hickisch and inaugurated in 1799. The bell tower, originally erected in the center of the main façade, had to be demolished in 1765 due to a structural defect, and the tower to the south side was replaced. The roof had to be replaced twice due to weather damage, including a 1793 lightning strike and a rainstorm in 1875. Its present eclectic appearance was designed by Miklós Ybl in 1877.
The church was renovated in 1957-1960 and again in 1997. In the 20th century, religious classrooms were added to the originally 18th-century parish building.
Church interior
The nave is triple-vaulted and contains an organ gallery. Curved alcoves on either side give the interior an impression of size and space greater than its actual dimensions. Sections of the walls "retract" into the space to absorb the horizontal forces of the arches.
The murals were painted in the 1920s.
Artwork
The painting on the main altar is the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Saint Elizabeth in the style of Ferenc József Falconer. Its sculptures are by Frigyes Held (1799). The rotating sacrament holder is preserved from an earlier altar dating to 1761. The pulpit (1747-48) was a gift from the Poor Clares. On the other side of a triumphal arch is the altar of St. Anna, relocated in 1779 from the Matthias Church.
A carved wooden Pietà is an 1818 work by Lőrinc Dunaiszky. The side altars were donated by citizens and feature their beloved saints (Saint Sebastian appears repeatedly). One is claimed to represent Saint Florian (1778). Beside that appears an altar of St. Anthony of Padua (1777–78), followed by an altar of the Virgin Mary (1760). The nearest to the main altar is the 1902 Altar of the Heart of Jesus, which replaced the 1782 altar of St. John of Nepomuk. The Rieger organ, as of 2022, is in a state of disrepair.