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The Little Blue Church of St. Elizabeth |
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The Church of St. Elizabeth ......... Arrival in Bratislava was just before dark. Top priority was food and we headed to a charming little restaurant called U kubistu. However, on the way back to the hotel, we spotted the charming "Little Blue Church" off to the left. It wasn't until later that I learned it was an Art Nouveau treasure consecrated to St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Originally, the church was the chapel for the neighboring high school, itself an Art Nouveau treasure. It required a second visit in the daylight. |
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The church, planned by Ödön Lechner, was constructed between 1907 - 1908. The facade, mosaics, pews, trim and roof are all a pale shade of blue. It looks like a wedding cake or perhaps the kind of church Cinderella might attend. Elizabeth was a princess from Hungary in the early 1200s. She really didn't have a lot of time to do her saintly works, which consisted of using her own money to build a hospital and care for the sick. She married at 14, buried her husband at 20 and died at 24. Her example was enough to make her a symbol of Christian charity. |
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Before I knew it was built for a school, I wondered why the chapel was so small. There were several services on Sunday morning. The mass I visited was packed with about 150 of the devout. I couldn't take the kind of photos I wanted during the service. I returned one more time later in the day only to find mass was over and the church locked up. If you want more of the church, this video (not mine) may do it for you. |
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| Copyright 2015 by Phillip Martin All rights reserved. | ||||