Bárkányi Ildikó - Lajkó Orsolya (szerk.): A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve 2019. Új folyam 6. (Szeged, 2019)

Régészet - Lajkó Orsolya - Löffler Zsuzsanna: Árpád-kori templom Szegeden?

Orsolya Lajkó - Zsuzsanna Löffler

An Árpád Period church in Szeged?

An Árpád Period church in Szeged?

Dr. Lajkó Orsolya - Löffler Zsuzsanna

In 2014, during the archaeological monitoring of the reconstruction and renovation works of the Dömötör Tower of the Szeged Cathedral, the remains of a so-far unknown small church or chapel with a semi-circular apse were discovered. The larger part of the wall remains had been destroyed down to the lower part of the foundation. Due to the extent of the destruction and the lack of any datable finds, the date of the wall could not be determined, but based on its architectural style we considered it to be from the Árpád Period. Based on the analysis of samples from the mortar, it could not have been constructed later than the 14th century, but the Árpád Period date could not be proven due to the lack of reference samples.

In 2017, we carried out further excavations in the area, during which the foundation of the northern wall and the western wall were found, and in a short section we could also observe the upright part of the latter. Based on the wall remains from these two excavations, the plan of a small, E-W oriented church or chapel with semi-circular apse could be delineated, with an external length of 11 m and external width of

6.5 m. Its 73-75 cm wide upright wall had been constructed with a casttechnique: the two sides of the wall comprised flat ashlars, while the cast core of the wall and the 92-95 cm high basal wall consisted of mortar mixed with pieces of stone and some brick rubble. Inside the church, we found a heap of human bones, which had probably been deposited within the walls later, during the levelling of the area in the 17th-18th centuries. A few graves were also excavated on the west side of the building, but based on their depth and SW-NE orientation these must have been part of the church graveyard of the St. Demetrios church during the reign of Sigismund.

Based on the plan and construction technique, the church or chapel we excavated had been built during the Árpád Period, probably before the St. Demetrios church, during the llth-12th centuries. It has been suggested that the excavated remain can be identified as the Church of Virgin Mary, which is mentioned in a charter of the 12th century, but in lack of further data this cannot be proven yet.

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