Franciscans have operated in Subotica since the last decade of the 17th century, as a subsidiary of the friary in Szeged. They had led their registers of births, marriages and deaths since 1696, while the parish of Saint Michael was established in 1710. In 1723, they received from the Chamber in Vienna the two-storied fortress of Subotica, build by the Dengelengi Pongrácz family in 1470. The foundation wall of this building was the basement of the single-nave Baroque church erected between 1730 and 1736 and sacred to Saint Michael. Certain pieces of its original furnishings made by master craftsmen from Buda and Pest were placed in the three-wing, single-storied Baroque friary building, after the reconstruction in early 20th century – among them is the series of 32 portraits of Franciscan saints made in 1793-95. The Grammar School in Subotica was also founded by the Franciscans in 1747. Between 1907 and 1912, the church was rebuilt in Neo-Romanesque style based on the plans of Sándor Aigner, so it got its current exterior with two towers and the interior furniture. The chapel of Black Madonna, especially respected by people from Subotica, was erected in 1905, with its neo-Renaissance Carrara marble altar having the Virgins picture from Czestochowa, copied in the 17th century.
Zsuzsanna Korhecz Papp
Literature:
Cvekan, Paškal (1977): Subotički franjevački samostan i crkva. Subotica.