Church of St. George, Budapest

Church of St. George
Church of St. George
Црква Светог Ђорђа; Szent György Nagyvértanú szerb ortodox templom
Style	Baroque
Administration
Archdiocese	Eparchy of Buda

The Church of St. George (Serbian Cyrillic: Црква Светог Ђорђа, Hungarian: Szent György Nagyvértanú szerb ortodox templom) in Budapest, Hungary, commonly known as the Serbian Church, is today the only Serbian Orthodox church in Hungarian capital city.^[3] The church belongs to the Eparchy of Buda and it is dedicated to Saint George. The Church of St. George is located in the heart of the city, less than 100 meters from the Váci Street, the main pedestrian zone. The building is protected by the Hungarian National Office for Cultural Heritage.

History

On the site of the current church, an older Serbian place of worship was built during the settlement of the Serbs in this area during the

Arsenije III Čarnojević

.

In the first half of the 18th century, Serbs constituted a significant portion of the population in Pest, which led to the need for a larger and more solid church. Finally, in 1731, a project was prepared for a new church in the Baroque style, which was built in 1733. The church was built according to the plans of András Mayerhoffer (1690-1771) from Salzburg. The Baroque bell tower was added in 1752. The original iconostasis for the church was created by Stefan Tenecki.

In 1838, Pest was struck by a major

Neo-Renaissance

. The creator of the new iconostasis was a Greek artist. The baroque church's garden is surrounded by a stone wall, and on the side facing the garden, the tombstones of Serbian believers buried in Pest were incorporated. At the corner of Szerb Street and Veres Pálné Street, there is a ceramic image depicting St. George slaying the dragon.

The Church of St. George in Pest has been the second most significant church of the Serbian community in Budapest after the Church of Saint Demetrius. However, since the aforementioned church was heavily damaged during World War II, it was demolished in 1949. As a result, the church in Pest became the only Serbian place of worship in the city. 1959 archaeological research confirmed that the current building was built at the site of an older church.^[4]