Juhász Irén: A Vésztő-Mágori-domb (Békéscsaba, Békés Megyei Múzeumok Igazgatósága, 2006)

As the result of our excavations, the monastery of the Csolt-clan, the descendants of Vata, the first clan holding possession of Békés County, became known. In the 10th century the Csolt-clan (Vata) took hold of the greatest part of the present Békés County After the defeat of the revolt of Vata then chief of the clan, in 1046, the organization of the county by the Church could begin. The first recording is from 1222, and from the later periods we have entries about the monastery from the Pope's tenths-registers. In the 14th century it is the descendants of the Csolts, the Abrahámfi's (sons of Abraham) who appear in the documents; at the end of this century the history of the monastery ends for unknown reasons, and its territory is joined with the neighbouring village, Mágor. By 1654 Mágor proves to be deserted as well. In 1733 two towers of the church were still standing, but in 1798 these fell as well. Between 1810 and 1812, a member of the Wenckheim family possessing this territory built this cellar where the exhibition is placed, and that caused the complete ruin of the monastery During the excavation we found walls or basement remains of different building periods. The first church was built in the first half of the 11th century, but we only know the remains of the frescos decorating its walls. A Romanesque style church and the rotunda church were built int he second half of the same century. In the first third of the 12th century the church was rebuilt into a threenaved. typicl monastery church. The angular, U-shaped cloister south of the church also originals from then. In a corner of the yard we also found the well. Outside of the building we find the - presumably - bread-oven built of brick. The last great reconstruction was at the end of the 12th century, when the church became a three-naved, wide, pilastered cathedral, with a wall closing the sanctuary and a public altar connected with this. The two thick towers were at the west end. Along the walls, there were several hundred graves in the churchyard and funeral provisions were no longer placed beside the dead of the Middle Ages buried in the spirit of Christian belief. The buildings of the monastery were proportioned by stone ornaments carved typically for that age. On of the finest carvings is the part of a ledge decorated with a turbanned man's face and plaited palmette. From a scripthistonc view, the stone with Latin inscription is of great importance. In Great Hungarian Plain the whole monastery is one of the greatest art historic importance.