St Stephen's Basilica

In 1845, József Hild was commissioned to design the Roman catholic parish church for Lipótváros in Pest, as to his credit were already such important church buildings in the 1830s as the cathedral of Eger (1830-37) and the completion of Esztergom cathedral (1839-45). St. Stephen's Basilica was not only inportant as an ecclesiastical venue but it was also a focal point in newly built out Lipótváros.
The first version was designed by Hild in neo-classical style. The goundplan shows a centrally arranged space divided into nine parts, with a rounded ending on the east. The plan and budget were consented to and excavations began in early 1848. Construction was interrupted by the revolution and resumed in 1851. Hild was asked to make another set of plans, adding romantic elements to the neo-classical design (e.g. the crowning of the towers). Work was going on continuously: in 1852, the main pillars, then the foundations of the towers were completed. In 1854, founds began to run short, so subscription sheets were issued to stimulate donations. The north and south main walls stood already in 1862, the masonry of the drum for the dome began in 1866. When Hild died in March 1867, the completion of the construction was entrusted to Miklós Ybl's care. The multiplying alarming cracks on the main piers by the end of the year made Ybl stop construction. Thanks to this foresight, no one was hurt when at 3 pm on January 22, 1868 the dome collapsed. The public was shocked by the disaster, and works came to a halt for years.
Miklós Ybl made new plans already in 1867 and 1868, and the plans for the building permit were also completed in 1876 and 1868, and the plans for the building permit were also completed in 1876. Ybl preserved Hild's layout but designed a monumental building using the motifs of mature renaissance in a picturesque design. He change the portico, lengthened the drum and redesigned romantic tower caps.
By that time, not only the architectural tastes but also the enviroment of the Basilica had changed. The Váci boulevard (Bajcsy-Zsilinszky street) had become an important thoroughfare, so it looked awkward that the Basilica did not communicate with that main road. In one of Ybl's plan versions this oddity could have been toned down by a loggia facing Váci boulevard on the east. This phase of planning was captured in several perspectivic drawings by Albert Schickedanz, who worked for Ybl's planning firm at that time.
Ybl was working on the decoration of the interior and the building was almost completed when he died in 1891. Thenwork  was finished according to József Kauser's plans for the interior. The Basilica was only completed sixty years after the designing work began, in 1905.