Gyöngyössy Márton (szerk.): Perspectives on the Past. Major Excavations in County Pest (Szentendre, 2008)

St. György's Church

at Inárcs

(8th/7th century ВС-late 1st century AD) (lst-4th centuries AD) (400-454ÄD)(454-568 AD)

CONQUEST PERIOD AND ÁRPÁDIAN AGE

(895-1 301 AD)

(1301-1526/1686)

1. Portrait of St. George on a pectoral cross from the 11th century

2. Section of the wall of the early church

3. Painted fresco fragment depicting a consecration cross

4. Ground plan and reconstruction of the Gothic period of the church (by András Balogh, based on Edit Tari’s plan)

A church dedicated to St. György was erected in the medieval village of Inárcs. The medieval church, of which very little has survived, and the cemetery around it lie on ploughland about 3 kilometres from the modern village. The little that survived of the foundations of the one-time church were uncovered in 2000 during the site’s archaeological investigation. The considerable amount of rubble contained pottery sherds, iron nails, silver coins, mortar fragments, and broken stones and bricks. Several carved stones bore the remains of a white limewash, while other small fragments were covered with red, yellow and black pigment, the remains of wall paintings.

The finds and the ashlar foundations suggest that the church was built during the Árpádian Age, perhaps as early as

the 11th century. On the testimony of the surviving remains, the church was repeatedly renewed and enlarged during the ensuing centuries. The church grew into a large Gothic edifice by the 15th century, about twice the size of the first small Romanesque church. The community buried its dead both inside and around the church building.

A bronze pectoral cross from the late 11th or early 12th century, a rare and remarkable find, was discovered in the rubble, presumably from an early grave destroyed during the church’s rebuilding. The original decoration of the damaged cross has survived: it was engraved with a human figure. The ends of the arms are framed with wavy lines. One interesting feature of this lovely find is an inscription in Greek arranged in three rows: “St. George, the sinless”. It is unclear whether the name of St. George on the cross and the fact that the church was dedicated to this saint is merely a coincidence or not. St. George was one of the most popular and most widely revered saints in Hungary during the Middle Ages. He was regarded as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

As the vanquisher of a fierce dragon, the saint symbolised the struggle against evil, and people often prayed to him for recovery from an ailment. St. George was also the patron saint of hospitals.

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