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

Előadások / Presentations - ÁGOSTHÁZI László: Szántódpuszta, a large farm in baroque style

dining rooms, each with a quality kitchenette. The four labourers' houses scattered on the puszta were thus converted into 16 suites, each with a tiny front garden and terrace. Each new dwelling unit fits within the limits of the former labourers' home. One of the labourers' houses, an entirely vaulted, double tract building dating from 1880 proved refined enough to house an exhibition on local history. One of the units it contains is displayed as a labourer's dwelling, with its original furniture, accessories and utensils. The remaining three one-time dwelling units show the relics of farming on the puszta, of fishing on Lake Balaton, of the Szántód ferry, lace-work from the neighbouring Endréd as well as the literary works of Ádám Pálóczi Horváth who used to live at Szántód as a tenant. Between 1840 and 1842, two huge stables were built on the puszta, both have fine vaulted interiors with pillars. Both were later annexed and extended. One of them was made into an L-shaped building of impressive size, the other became cross-shaped. They have been restored to their original functions and are now used as a cowshed and a shed for saddle-horses. One of the wings of the cross-shaped shed has been converted into a café, the so-called Lovas (Horseman's) café offering an insight into the stable through an enormous glass wall. Among the facilities of animal husbandry, pigsties and hen houses have also been restored. Unfortunately, they now only serve demonstrative purposes, although some occasionally house turkeys, guinea-fowls or goats. The one-time piggery and sheep-fold are also redundant, although the latter is sometimes used as a shelter for animals. The buildings built for storing crop also had to be partly converted. They include an outstanding seignorial wine-cellar, with an impressive interior, double T layout and a very fine vaulting, intact since 1820. /It is to be noted that its overall floorspace is 1200 m

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, and it may receive up to 1500 hectolitres of wine! / It is still being used for storing and treating wine, while one section is separated by a glass wall and houses a tavern. It was impossible to preserve the original function of the one-time granary: it now houses an exhibition on crafts and ethnography. The „footed" barn is used for temporary exhibitions. No new function could be identified for the huge corn barn with a double storage space and a central corridor. It is being empty, although coaches, sleighs etc. are stored and exhibited between its pillars. The small pits belonging to the labourers' houses have also been restored, but are, of course, also empty. The former workshops have been restored and are used for maintenance purposes. Among them, the onetime cooper's workshop has received an interesting function: it houses a spectacular Balaton aquarium. So far as I know, it is the only display of the fauna and flora of the lake. Another workshop, the one across the castle has also been substantially transformed: one end houses a restaurant with a new kitchen annexed, the rest is used as a folk art shop and public lavatory. The above facilities are located around the now „centre", i.e. that area of the puszta, which is of unrestricted access. This is where the visitors are received. A small building here serves as information office. The main building is, of course, the „Castle", the one-time manor house, the core of which dates from the beginning of the 18th century, then was several times extended. Its interior was modernised to house the offices of the puszta administration, the conference and exhibition rooms (including an exhibition room in the basement), a guest room as well as a flat. The old csárda is the most welcoming building. It was built back in 1716 as a relay station of the Siófok-Nagykanizsa postal service. It was used for this purpose until the mid 1840s, then, with the railway line completed in 1865, stagecoaches stopped to operate for good. The csárda building had to be freed from a distorting „captivity" of many instances of subsequent annexing and transformation, and its arches, archway and portico restored to their original shape. It now houses a fine restaurant with a tavern in the cellar.