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ROM Vándor arrives in Somogy - the 13th century church ruins of Varjaskeri revived

Published

2024. 10. 28. 11:43
Market has restored an 800-year-old part of the Hungarian built heritage on the south-eastern border of Somogyszentpál.

The renovated Varjaskéri church ruins in Somogyszentpál have been handed over. The restoration was carried out as part of the ROM Vándor programme launched by Market Építő Zrt. and cost 30 million forints. magyarepitok.hu has been reporting on the programme since its inception.

This time, the experts carried out major conservation, restoration and environmental works on a church ruin, presumably in Romanesque style, dating from the late 13th century, including repairing the wall surface, replacing collapses and stabilising the church wall

- according to the information sent to this newspaper.

The inauguration ceremony of the Varjaskéri monument on 18 October was attended by Kristina Erzsébet Deák, Deputy State Secretary for Monument Protection, Attila József Móring, Member of Parliament and Government Commissioner, Mayor Edit Poszáné Szabó, Tamás Krenn, Chief Engineer of Market Építő Zrt. and Project Manager of ROM Vándor, and Peter Belecz, Programme Director.

The church ruins near Somogyszentpál are the fourth monument to be renovated as part of the Market Építő Zrt. corporate social responsibility programme, ROM Vándor. Thanks to the initiative recognised by the Hungarian National Committee of ICOMOS with the „Award for Exemplary Monument Preservation”, which aims to discover, preserve and promote our built heritage, the ruins of the Arpad-era church in the Zsámbék Basin, located at https://magyarepitok.hu/mi-epul/2022/10/arpad-kori-templomrom-ujult-meg-a-fovarosi-agglomeracioban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Töki church ruins in the Zsámbék Basin, last year the Aszófő Kövesdi church ruins, and this summer, the Csákányospuszta church ruins and its surroundings were renovated.

"As a Hungarian construction company, we are working to ensure that our built environment serves and enriches our country. At the same time, the development of the present and the future cannot be achieved without respecting and appreciating the past. This is why the launch of the ROM Vándor programme is an important milestone in the history of our company. We have a responsibility in what we pass on to future generations and how we show them our patriotism. One of the ways we do this is by not letting our centuries-old monuments, which still preserve our roots and the beauty of our culture in their ruins, be lost. I trust that in the future many Hungarian families and hikers will enjoy visiting the ruins of the Varjaskeri church as much as our team, who have worked with heart and soul, have enjoyed it."

- said Scheer Sándor, CEO of Market Építő Zrt..

Eight months of research on the Árpád-era ruin

After eight months of preparation and three months of construction works, the late 13th century church ruins of Varjaskeri, located in the area of today's Somogyszentpál, could be renewed, the press release said. Although the experts did not find any significant structural cracks in the brickwork of the monument as part of the preparatory investigations, the intervention was very timely.

Based on the restoration plan, the first step was to clean and then conserve the existing wall surface and fugues. Then, using the original bricks, they replaced the brickwork and rebuilt the wall corona, preserving the sculptural silhouette of the 800-year-old building remnant in the landscape.

The factsheet points out:

In addition to preserving the aesthetic and historical values and the natural, harmonious relationship between the poetic ruin and the landscape, the monument has been given a small-scale contemporary addition. The Corten steel gate element, attached to the brick wall, both stabilises the structure and marks the location and scale of the former gate, defining the sacral focal point of the space and acting as an information sign.

The renovation work was accompanied by landscaping of the area around the ruin. This included improved surface drainage, lowering the ground level along the church wall to medieval levels and the creation of earth mounds around the ruin to mark the foundations of the former cinterem, church and sacristy. The area around the church ruins was also revitalised by trimming the organ bushes and grassing the area.

Hikers' eyes can also light up

At the ceremony, TamásKrenn, Chief Engineer of Market Építő Zrt. and Project Manager of the ROM Vándor programme, highlighted that they hope that the ruins, which have been restored through the company's CSR initiative, will become attractive destinations for hikers.

"If you want to walk through the four sites we have completed so far, you have to walk 203 kilometres through hills and valleys. As an experienced hiker, I can say that it is worth the effort, because along the way you will encounter countless beautiful landscapes and sights like the Crow's Nest and others, including our restored ruins to be discovered."

- said in his inaugural speech at the 18 October event.

Each monument requires a unique approach to conservation

The ROM Vándor programme started three years ago with the mapping of more than 100 ruins and the excavation of around 50. The aim of the programme, which spans several years, is to restore, save and rehabilitate 1-2 Árpád-era sacral monuments per year. The task is not simple: each monument has different characteristics and unforeseen technical problems, and therefore requires different solutions and specific preparation," the communication says, adding that the renovation work includes conservation, preservation and restoration, as well as the restoration of the monuments' surroundings. In addition, all ruin sites will be equipped with a uniform ROM Vándoros information element.

They emphasise that in all cases, the professionals carry out the renovations in a way that is respectful of the historic heritage and the identity of the buildings, and that leaves a quality legacy that will not need to be touched for decades. In addition to the involvement of renowned experts, all the related tasks, from preparation to handover, will be carried out with the help of Market Építő Zrt. volunteers.

In the case of the four renewed and handed over ruin churches, the goal was successfully achieved to save and preserve the centuries-old values and to bring these legacies closer to the people, to make them part of life again, to become the scenes of quality leisure time programmes.

- they conclude, adding that five more sites are currently being investigated and prepared in parallel in the ROM Vándor programme.

History of the Varjasker churchToday, only the western entrance wall of the Varjaskeri church, which according to the chronicles was built in the 13th century, is still standing, and is now being conserved and restored under the ROM Vándor programme. The single-nave, west-vaulted, straight-vaulted church, which dates back to the settlement of the Early Christian settlement of Kér, served its worshippers for many years. The church may have been enlarged in several periods, a sacristy or chapel was built next to the sanctuary, and in time a 7 x 7 m extension with a corner pillar was added to the existing church mass from the west, presumably a tower with a western entrance doorway. However, the Turkish occupation meant the end of the village and with it the end of the church. The area, which was deserted sometime after 1536, was never again inhabited. A new settlement was founded further north, which sealed the fate of the church. The area around the ruins was slowly abandoned and later used only for burial.

But the locals did not let his memory fade into oblivion. In 1960, under the leadership of Mark Kovácsevics, a teacher from Somogyszentpál, which was created from the merger of Varjaskér and Tótszentpál, excavations were started among the ruins. They found 18 human skeletons in the crypt in the nave of the church, and three others were found buried upside down with burnt beams and were excavated from under the choir. Burnt oak floor bricks were also uncovered under the sanctuary and a rare bronze crucifix was found and later taken to the Hungarian National Museum.

Since the mid-1970s, no further research was carried out at this site until the spring of 2024. At that time, Market Építő Zrt. commissioned a geophysical survey of the entire area and the immediate surroundings of the church by means of ground-penetrating radar. This identified the exact size of the church, which measured 18 x 7 m, oriented eastwards, and was built in at least two periods. The first was the traditional Árpád-period church with a straight sanctuary (12×7 m), to which a tower was added later. The section of wall that stands today was the western entrance wall of this tower.

ROM Vándor programme - Temple of Shadow Square / Market Építő Zrt.

  • General contractor: Market Építő Zrt.
  • Programme Director: Péter Belecz
  • Project leader: Tamás Krenn
  • Construction Manager: Tamás Szabadosi
  • Landscape and environmental design by Mária Windisch
  • Technical preparation by Ágnes Jung
  • Head of Sponsorship and CSR: Edit Nagy

Partners:

  • Design by Bálint Kelemen, Lead Designer (KÖZTI)
  • Chief structural designer: Péter Váczi (KÖZTI)
  • Scientific documentation by Gergely Patak (KÖZTI)
  • Restoration by Gábor Bánfi
  • Professional advisor: Ádám Arnóth (heritage expert)
  • Archaeological partner: István Molnár (Rippl-Rónai Museum)
  • Geophysical survey by Máté Stibrányi
  • 3D point cloud, orthophoto by Tibor Szappanyos (Kvalitron Kft.)
  • Partner sponsor: MAPEI Kft. (Mape-Antique Allettamento mortars)

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