A műemlékek sokszínűsége (A 28. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1998 Eger, 1998)

Előadások / Presentations - SEBESTYÉN József: Saxon and székely fortofoed churches in Transylvania

circle, with several levels of tightly-spaced living and storage compartments on the inside. The people of the village withdrew there in times of danger, and kept stores of food there even in peacetime. The 13th century, three-nave, basilica-form church in Schönberg/Lesses was first fortified and modified in the middle of the 15 th century. The simicircular arch chancel was removed, defensive towers were built at the two ends of the nave and a regular square fortified castle wall was erected around the church with diagonally-arranged towers at the corners. The fortifications were extended in 1647. At the boundary of Székelyföld and Királyföld, in Draas/Homoróddaróc on the river Homoród, is a three-nave basilica-form church built in the 13th century whose construction can be proved to have involved the work of Cistercian order builders from Kerc. Its ground plan, with a central western tower, can be regarded as analogous to the Romanesque church in Szászsebesi (Mühlbach). Construction of the irregular polygonal castle wall, fortified with external defensive towers, was completed in 1494. This is when the church's side-aisles were demolished and a defensive storey constructed above the chancel. The old Italian bastion-form defensive tower was erected in 1650. Strikingly beautiful church fortifications remain in Eibersdorf/Szászivánfalva and Baassen/Felsőbájom, built in the 15th century and reinforced during the 16th. Characteristic of the Saxon fortress churches are various forms of defensive galleries with loopholes and machicolations. In some places they were wooden, like in Hégen, but in most cases had masonry walls standing on arches supported by counterforts and/or stepped consoles, as in Miklóstelek, and the church along the main road in the middle of the village of Keisd/Szászkézd, The monumental church fortifications in Birthalm/Berethalom, where an evangelical bishopric was established in 1600, and in Meschen/Muzsna, are remarkable accomplishments. Richly adorned, these late-gothic churches are major products of Transylvanian Gothic art. The Church of the Virgin Mary in Berethalom was built during the 14th and 15th centuries. It has an elongated, polygon-ended chancel is built on to a three-nave church. The ceilings have reticulated vaults and the chancel is crowned by a defensive gallery without machicolations. The blind-arcaded double bailey surrounding the church, with machicolations in places, was built around the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. There is a wooden belfry in the inner defensive wall, a rarety in Király föld. Not far from here, the church in Szászmuzsna is also a major late-Gothic monument. The church's western tower and the remains of a chapel built in to the encircling wall are 14th century. The three-nave late-gothic chamber church surmounted by a reticulated vault was built between 1491 and 1498. The monogram of Andreas Lapicida, a craftsman from Szeben, can be seen on the stone frame of the ornamented vestry door. The defensive storey with machicolations and loopholes was built above the reticulated vault in the 16th century. After 1520, the church was fortified with a double wall divided by four external defensive towers. There are many more Saxon fortified churches. Only one more will be mentioned here: the church in Csicsóholdvilág (Abstdorf), built in the 14th century. The oval castle wall and gate tower built around the church in the 16th century gives a very good impression of what many Székely fortified churches looked like when they were first built, also in the 16th century. Although the increasingly frequent Turkish and Mongol raids also affected the Székelys of the border areas, they only set to the construction of forts and the fortifying of churches somewhat later. There are several reasons for this delay. The compulsory personal military service required in return for their rights of freedom put a severe material strain on the Székelys. Another reason was their favoured fighting tactic, involving feigned retreat followed by sudden swooping attack. During the enforced absence of their male members during military service, families had to look after their own survival, and lack of means is one of the main reasons why village dwellers in the 15th century often chose to retreat into the thick, impenetrable forests which covered much of Székelyföld in preference to the uncertain protection offered by castle walls in the absence of those family members practised in arms. There are many places which remain in common knowl-