St Francis Xavier Cathedral

The Francis Xavier Cathedral, Banská Bystrica is a cathedral at Slovak National Uprising Square in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.

There was a first mention of a gothic chapel at this spot in the so-called Königsberger's testament from 1503. It was the only place of Roman Catholic worship during the 16th century, when Banská Bystrica was in the hands of the Protestants.

In 1647 a few Jesuits settled here and started the Catholic reform of the town and its neighbourhood. During the years 1695–1701 they built their own college on the Königberger's site. They started the building of the church in 1702 as a copy of the Church of the Gesu in Rome.The construction came to a halt when in 1703 when the town was occupied by the anti-Habsburg troops of Francis II Rákóczi.