Huszár Zoltán (szerk.): Kereszténység és államiság Baranyában (Pécs, 2000)
Dercsényi Balász: A magyar keresztény államiság építészeti emlékei a Dél-Dunántúlon - Baranya megye középkori templomai
A^iJECjUHAl REMAINS Of jhE hüNOAf(ÍAN Chl^iSfIAN SJAJE IN SOUjhtp THANSDANUBiA- jhe medíevaL chunchEs of jHe COUNTY Of BARANYA Summary The county of Baranya is Transdanubia's southernmost administrative unit. Its entire area falls into the Pécs Bishopric founded in 1009. Historical documentary research has revealed that from the 11th-13th centuries there were 190 settlements in the county listed as possessing a church. Today, the number of medieval churches under preservation orders does not reach two dozen, that is, hardly more than 10% of the total found in documents. The rest are concealed, or were destroyed during Turkish Occupation, or have fallen into min in hard times, demolished during the period of baroque reconstruction, or disintegrated because they were made of transient building materials, or fell into disuse and ruin when their congregations fled. Churches that have been reconstructed do not differ from discoveries in other parts of the country. The ground plans are simple, with the chancels facing east, the earlier ones being semicircular, becoming rectangular and vaulted from the 13th century. These were covered by a smooth layer with the addition of a nave, and vaulting seen today is more likely to be 18thcentury or later. Where there was a medieval tower, it was built during the second period; first the apse and the nave were constructed. Generally it was the southern facade that was the most important and most ornamented. It was here that the main entrance was placed, with either a beveled or a simpler gateway. Above this, a row of three small windows opened into the nave, as at Cserkút, Málom and Hetvehely. The interior of the churches were presumably painted, surviving frescos show that the first layer contained a holy cross, while the second, later one, dating from the end of the 13th century or the 14th century, had figurative scenes. Balázs Dercsényi Of the artists who created them we know only that the Romance period figurái layer (Cserkút, Málom) can be associated with the painters of the Pécs Cathedral. Of these, the set of wall paintings in Siklós Church is of outstanding value. One of Hungary's wealthiest families made Siklós a county seat, and the chancel of the church was painted according to the design of the Augustine Order, either overseen by Italian masters or by their protégés. The two-level church of the Benedictine Abbey at Pécsvárad is another treasure. It was built between 1015 and 1038 and decorated in 12th-century Upper- Italian Byzantine style. Another church of great worth is the Calvinist church at Nagyharsány. It was extended in late gothic style towards the end of the medieval period, and its spectacular meshed vaulting arch is supported by a central pillar rarely seen in Hungary. Its Reformation period wall painting is also rather special. Somewhere around 1680, colourful flower-motif ornamentation was painted on the walls, of which sections have survived.
