Vukov Konstantin: A középkori esztergomi palota épületei (2004)
Abstract
According to the author’s reconstructions, based on sources and on the investigation of the building a huge wooden circular vault had covered the hall, decorated by gilt roses in the cassettes. With the help of investigation of the floor bricks, remained in the opened beam pockets and of window bays of the courtyard wall of the big hall, with the projection of the reconstructable floor, the level and layer conditions of the closed balcony suspended aisle, belonging to the big hall can be determined very precisely. The Chapel of Sibyls The contemporary descriptions mention the Chapel of Sibyls, which belonged to the big hall, but was completely destroyed. The chapel got its name after the pictures inside, according to which Sibyls saying prophesy about the Salvator were also painted, while on the vault the pictures of the Saints and of Christ, the Crucified could be seen. On the basis of the order of the rooms along the visit route, mentioned in the contemporary descriptions the place of the Chapel of Sibyls could be well identified, determined with great probability. It could be the room between the 5th and 6th pillars of the Western walling. The Chapel is a regular, about 8x8 meter floor plan, rectangular unit, which according to the contemporary witnesses was covered by „all around” vaulting - most probably by stellar vault. The terraced garden The terraced garden is also part of the human residency, after the analysis of the situations of Buda and Urbino its place can be identified on the terrace next to the Chapel. Bonfini’s description also mentions a tower next to the terraced garden, which was a favourite staying place of the Archbishop. According the correct interpretation the tower could be found between the bath and the garden (or gardens), which is the real place of the White Tower, that is of the Romanesque motte. Viewing from the staircase leading to the palace the White Tower can really be found between the referred bathing house and the terrace garden, discovered by us. Descriptions of the view from the tower to the garden, however do not refer to the terraced garden. In all probability, at that time - like in the last century - there were gardens on the small island area between the Danube and Small Danube, perhaps the Western palace slope was also attended as garden, which had a terraced formation as proved by the archeological findings. This means that there were two gardens: an internal and an outside garden, the internal, the so- called terraced garden and the external one are not one and the same. Since the internal garden was a small one, but contained all important elements, which were expected from a humanist aristocrat. The screened water was collected by the cisterne, still existing under the garden terrace. The Saint Steven hall The hall received its name after being considered for a long time as the birthplace of the first king, Saint Steven, since this is architecturally the only, undamaged hall of the palace unit. It could however not had been his birthplace, since it was built much later than the 10th century, at the time of King Béla III, in the 12th century. The hall is along the connecting route of the private suite and the household units, the two functions could be separated from each other here. This room could be visited after the destruction of the palace, too as the final room of the row of casemates under the artillery terrace, built on the ruins. A broken line staircase, closed by ruin started from here towards the hallway above. In the elegant hall, built outside the contour of the pentagonal motte, only one central column is standing on courtyard level. This supports the Roman type cross-vault, developed in four fields. The squares on the vaults are separated by crescent-like stone belt arches. The architectural and structural formation of the hall creates a uniform block with other parts of the private residence, which means that the private section was built during a - quite long - construction period. Its present, restored appearance is the result of the works, completed in the 1960s. Reconstruction of household and sanitary units The castle kitchen The exploring archeologist, István Horváth had recognized, that two rooms of the so-called row of casemates is the same as the late, 15th century castle kitchen, and at that time a chimney cowl covered completely the furnace housing room. Such extremely large size, pyramidal chimneys 101
