Tanulmányok Budapest Múltjából 31. (2003)
RÉGÉSZETI ÉS RESTAURÁLÁSI ELŐZETES JELENTÉSEK - Kovács Eszter: A budai ferences kolostor a török korban 241-262
KOVÁCS ESZTER The Franciscan Cloister in Buda Castle during the Turkish Period The mediaeval Franciscan cloister consecrated to St. John stood in the place of the Sándor Palace and the Castle Theatre (1-2 Szent György Square and 1-3 Színház Street) in Budapest. Although the date of the founding of the cloister is unknown, it can be most likely linked with the town planning of King Béla II. In 1555 the St. John church was undoubtedly used as a mosque. Its early naming is unknown; may have been established by a private person, and its expenses were probably covered by foundation funds. The further expanding and decorating of the mosque may was probably carried out when the pasha moved from the seraglio standing on the bank of the Danube in the lower town to the castle in 1598. Since the mosque was preserved for the pashas personal use till 1686, it had to meet certain representation demands. It was then that the mosque was given the name „Pasha Jami", or „Seraglio Jami" and a minaret was erected also. Sometime later the polygonal sanctuary of the building was demolished and it obtained a square termination (during the uncovering in the Sándor Palace a decorated stone fragment was found which might have been part of the minber). The courtyard of the cloister was paved on the turn of the 16 th —17 th centuries and was later repaved (the filling of the four-sided pit, dug in the courtyard, can be dated to the second half of the 16 th century, the first paving can be found above it) Of the cellars found in the cloister's western wing, the southern one was used (its filling was baroque); the northern cellar however was filled (it can be dated to the second half of the 16 th century). Using up the main walls of the cloister a stiff clay floored room was created along with the demolishing of the medieval levels. The room was divided in two with a thin wall of northwest direction, raised almost dry on the stiff clay floor, both end of which terminated with secondarily pierced, carved stones, acquired from the cloister. A smaller wall of east-west direction divided the western side. Since much charcoal and many burnt pieces of wood were found in the waste layer of the building, it is probable, that the upper structure was made of wood. According to archaeological finds the eastern and southern wings of the cloister were both used till the end of the era. 262
