Budapest Guide
The Belváros
Szervita tér
Szervita tér takes its name from the eighteenth-century Servite Church, whose facade bears a relief of an angel cradling a dying horseman, in memory of the Seventh Kaiser Wilhelm Hussars killed in World War I. Across the way are two remarkable buildings from the golden age of Hungarian architecture. No. 3 has a gable aglow with a superb Art Nouveau mosaic of Patrona Hungariae (Our Lady) flanked by shepherds and angels, one of the finest works of Miksa Róth. The Rózsavölgyi Building, next door but one, was built a little later (between 1910 and 1913) by the "father" of Hungarian Modernism, Béla Lajta, whose earlier association with the National Romantic school is evident from the majolica bands on its upper storeys, typical of the style. On the ground floor is the Rózsavölgyi music shop, one of the oldest and best in the city.