Debrecen - Great Reformed Church Református Nagytem-plom

The very emblem of Debrecen is the imposing Great Reformed Church (Református Nagytem-plom), at the end of Piac utca. As well as being the town's dominant feature it is also its most important building from an historical point of view and the largest Calvinist church in Hungary. A church has stood here since the 12th C. The Church of St Andrew, a Gothic basilica built in the 13th C and burned down in the 16th C, was rebuilt but again reduced to ashes and rubble in a town fire of 1802. Remains of the walls from this church have been uncovered at the north end of the present building. This was built between 1807 and 1819 (the interior having been completed somewhat later) to the design of Mihály Péchy and Josef Tallherr. It is in Classical style with a tympanum above and towers either side of the entrance which is on the south side, The centrally-arranged interior is also somewhat cold and severe. The bell from the previous church, weighing 5600 kilos (51/2 tons), was preserved and recast in 1873; it is rung only on special occasions. The Transylvanian Prince György II Rákóczi originally had the bell cast from melted-down cannons used in the Thirty Years' War.