A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 46. (2007)

Marozsán Zsolt: Adalékok a karmeliták miskolci rendházának és templomának meghiúsult építkezéséhez

THE ABORTED CONSTRUCTION OF THE CARMELITE PRIORY AND CHURCH IN MISKOLC The papers in the bequest of architect László Menner includes a hand-written list signed by him on July 6, 1987. The roughly two hundred items include several well-known buildings of Miskolc. Menner was born in Bókod (Komárom County) on March 30, 1901. While still in secondary school, he decided to continue his studies at the University of Art and Design. After graduating in 1926 with honours in architectural design, he secured a job with an architectural firm in Diósgyőr. Three years later, in 1929, he opened his own design studio, which he kept up until 1949. He then worked for the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Miskolc Council, until his retirement in 1966. Although retired, he worked as the leader of the architectural group of the council's Department of Education. He was awarded the bronze medal of the Order of Labour on his seventieth birthday. His papers include a list of his plans. Beside item 127 of the list is the remark: "Never built". The item in question was the architectural plan of the priory and church of the Carmelite Order. The buildings designed for the order, which planned to settle in Miskolc, won the first prize of the design competition in 1946. By that time, the order could look back on a several hundred years long religious tradition. Members of the order arrived to Miskolc in 1942, settling in a temporary building and chapel. At the time, the Carmelites believed that this would be a temporary solution, for they already had plans for enlarging the chapel into a church and the city's leadership too assured them that they would help the order acquire a two-towered church and a one-storey priory. The Council Assembly discussed the order's request to receive a suitable plot in 1943 and decided to grant the plot on the northern side of the Győr Gate (the area enclosed by Gyula StreetBáthory István Street-Zoltán Street-Győr Gate). Owing to the war, the transaction was not completed. In 1947, the order requested that the Assembly donate the roughly 1500 négyszögöl (5395.71 m

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) large plot free of charge since various public areas had by that time been carved out from it. In the wake of the political changes in the summer of 1948, the Church came under attack, followed by several showcase trials. In 1949, most religious orders and associations were dissolved. New urban design plans were completed the same year and the plans for the priory and church were shelved. Block estates were built on the plot intended for the order on the northern side of the Győr Gate. The area between Miklós and Örs Streets was built up in the socialist realist style in 1951-1952, the area between Gyula and Ságvári Streets in 1953-1954. The priory had a planned length of 52 meters in an east to south direction and a width of 13 meters. It was designed as a one-storey building with a cellar and a high-pitched roof. The church would have been perpendicular to the building. Its main entrance was designed to face the Győr Gate and a 5 meters high cross was planned to top the 33 meters high tower. Two chapels, one dedicated to Saint Antal, the other to the Holy Sepulchre, were to be located in this area. The church was designed with a 14 meters wide nave flanked by side naves. The 28 meters long nave and side naves extended to the 9 meters by 9 meters large chancel. The church was to have had an inner height of 15 meters. Even though the priory and the church were never built, the Carmelites still maintain their presence in the town. After its completion, the new church of the Reformed Church of the Felsőváros district by the Győr Gate will attend to the spiritual needs of the population. Zsolt Ma rozsán 418