Budapest Régiségei 15. (1950)

Gerevich László: Gótikus házak Budán 121-238

Nearly all records describing Buda and Pest houses mention outhouses built of wood, with the exception of smaller, cheaper houses, but the latter were also built of stone. B. g. we hear of a house sold in Óbuda in the year 1349 for 14 golden florins. This was probably a modest building, but it is emphasized, that the house (domus) was built of stone. Another record of the year 1401 mentions not only s.tone houses, but also wooden houses in Buda. If we consider the archaeological material too, we may state, that in Buda, the more important houses were built of stone, and perhaps the greatest part of the simpler ones too. The outhouses were generally made of wood. In Upper Hungary and Transylvania, we find more wooden houses, but the finer buildings were of stone, and only the rear of the houses, the outhouses, and the dwellings of the poorest classes were built of wood. On the Hungarian Plain the situation was similar to that in Buda, we know of a great deal of stone dwelling houses in the towns. In spite of this, probably many wooden buildings existed and it is remarkable that a more fashionable type of timber house corresponding to the European type, did not develop. We can only imagine, that their construction was different from that of the German timber houses. They were taken over from the neighbouring (probably Slav) people and were not suitable for adapting and developing the Gothic style, but instead, the richer town-inhabitants built stone houses for themselves. The thorough examination of the Buda houses will answer the question, which peculiar variants of these types developed in Hungary, and particularly in Buda. As we have already seen, one can draw important conclusions concerning the style from the building material. Among the medieval monuments of Buda, there is no single detail proving the existence of wooden dwelling houses. The same is true for the records, for, excepting the general descriptions of the suburbs, only a single wooden house in Pest is mentioned. This analysis refers to an earlier period, but the finds in Buda date chiefly from the Late-Gothic Period. Bven the most ancient monument was erected shortly before the beginning of the fourteenth century. In Buda, the chief building material was stone; brick was used to a smaller extent, chiefly for vaulting. The mouldings and those parts which were important for the construction, were made of the porous but hard limestone of Budakalász, easy to work and at the same time weatherproof, sometimes of Óbuda travertine, or of the limestone of Sóskút and Tétény of the Sarmatian Age. They are weathering with a surface of an agreeable greyish-yellow colour that makes a plastic impression. The walls are — with the exception of some variants — regular ashlar walls, seldom square, oftener oblong in shape. On their surface, we often see shallow parallel furrows, which cross the edges obliquely : the traces of the saw toothed axe. The irregular stone wall consists of smaller broken stone laid in 40—60 cm thick layers. In the account book of Pozsony we can read about this technique : »... klein stain awf dy mawer domit man ausfüllt.« Next to stone, we find bricks, Their size varies, the average being 4 by 12 by 24 cm. We generally found bricks of this size. In the fourteenth century brick makers already worked in Buda. The account books of Pozsony mentioned them in the years 1455 and 1498, that of Selmecbánya in 1367, the account book of Bártfa in 1437 and 1438. The brick makers and tilers of Buda worked for far-off countries. So we can complete the results of archaeological research with the data of the records, which are indispensable for a sociological description. The earliest record of the thirteenth century mentions the house of a linen-draper. Fourteenth-century records mention chiefly the houses of artisans and merchants. The leases of single rooms or parts of houses throw a light on the dwelling conditions of the poorest classes Other .