Tanulmányok Budapest Múltjából 31. (2003)

RÉGÉSZETI ÉS RESTAURÁLÁSI ELŐZETES JELENTÉSEK - Bencze Zoltán: Régészeti kutatások a Dísz tér 17. sz. alatt : előzetes jelentés 191-203

BENCZE ZOLTÁN The Archaeological Excavations at 17 Dísz Square (Preliminary Report) The mediaeval Szent János and Szent Zsigmond streets in the southern part of the Castle District in Buda are slightly different from the modern track of the streets and the block of flats bordered by them reached over the northern walls of the building at NR. 17 Dísz Square. The central part of the present-day Szent György Square was shown as a closed area on a print by Erhard Schön from 1541. Three plots can be reconstructed on the longer, eastern side of the building, where later the Army Headquarters were built as a ground plan made in 1687, shortly after the siege of Buda by Hauy shows. Probably there is only one complete site on the shorter, western side or two incomplete ones. The building of the Hauptwacht, the Main Garrison which was built north to the Army Headquarters on the southern side of the square, was recorded as NR. 272 in Zaiger in 1696. On the territory of 17 Dísz Square the plots nrs Z.270 and 271 were found on the side of the Carmeliter Gasse while along the Schloss Gasse to the west there is plot NR. Z. 273. The record of the latter mentions a cellar full of debris near the old walls. The Regal Map of 1715 shows the building of barracks on the site of Z. 271 and 273 plots south to the Hauptwacht building. This building was parted with a small alley from the garrison building and the houses to the south . The barracks behind the garrison were bought by the city in the early 19

th century, then a Lutheran church was built there with a contribution from Maria Dorothea, third wife of Palatine Joseph. The church itself was erected on the eastern side while the school and the rectory were built on the western side ( see Gustav Emich's map from 1850 ). The Municipal Board of Public Works decided to demolish the dilapidated garrison in 1877. While in 1878 the Garrison building was marked an NR. 33. On the drafts before the construction of the Ministry of Defence building, it was not found in 1880 or 1893 on the drafts, but it did not last long. The Lutheran church and the school were moved to Bécsi Kapu Square where a new church, school and rectory, worth the old property were built by the Ministry of Defence. The new Army Headquarters was built in the place of the houses NR. 37 and 43 north to the Ministry, Harang Street, the church and the school. The wall remains found during the groundwork of the Ministry building in 1895-96 were partly destroyed, partly filled in with concrete. The Army Headquarters' fourstorey building was in a relatively good condition after World War II. but still two storeys were removed. The excavations started on Szent György Square included the uncovering of the Army Headquarters and a 3-metre wide track outside the facade on Dísz Square in 1999-2000. The mediaeval buildings were surveyed on a 2500 m

2 large area. Work was hindered by the fact that the basement was made up of several small rooms so large, unbroken spaces were only found in the inner court and outside the facade. 34 basement rooms have been uncovered and the architecture and remains of the different periods were traced up to the rocky surface. Due to the intensive building over the plots only the deeper layers of the mediaeval houses can be found. At the south-east corner of the present day building a fragmented wall of a mediaeval cellar turned up where the well marked A belonged to. To the north a mediaeval cellar of north-south direction was unearthed, with stairs leading from the upper room 202