Koppány Tibor: A Balaton környékének műemlékei (Művészettörténet - műemlékvédelem 3 Országos Műemlékvédelmi Hivatal, 1993)

Angol nyelvű összefoglaló

Monuments of the Lake Balaton-region Summary Lake Balaton-region, the well-known and much-loved holiday-resort hides a lot of valuable old treasures. Besides recreation, bathing and water-sports there are also lots of possibilities for excursions, to visit the centuries or in some places thousand year old architectural and artistic monuments hidden in the villages and towns of the closer or more distant lake-country. As early as the Neolithic age, men had built earth-works on the woody hills encircling the lake, and these were also used by some unidentified peoples, who dwelt here in the Bronze and Iron Ages. The first stone buildings were set up by the Romans who conquered the land in 100 A.D., and made it a part of the Province Pannónia. Archeologists have found traces of innumerable Roman settlements on both sides of the lake, primarily remains of villa rustica structures. In the vicinity of Keszthely and Siófok the two most important holiday-resorts, walls and buildings of late Roman town-sized fortresses have been excavated. From among them parts of the walls dug up in the ancient Valcum (Fenékpuszta near Keszthely) have already been exhibited. On the venue, part of the external walls,'with their round towers, the southern gate of the fortress and the neighbouring buildings can be seen, from among its buildings the five-aisled barn and the foundation of a three-aisled old Christian basilica are on display. Near Veszprém, on Baláca-puszta, under a modern shelter hides the ruins of a villa rustica and its inner courtyard. Material remains of the Roman Times are exhibited in Keszthely and Veszprém museums. The Migration Period that followed the Roman Empire, also left numerous monuments behind on this land, but these are mostly preserved in museums. Eventually, a Frankish feudal state formed around Lake Balaton and on the southern parts of the one-time Pannónia by 900 A.D. Their residence was an earth-work built in the marshy valley of the River Zala, near Zalavár west of Keszthely. They named this earthen-castle Mosaburg and elected a prince, Pribina, who was expelled from the territory of the Moravian Empire around 840, to be its lord. Pribina and his successor son had churches built in Mosaburg and in the neighbouring villages; part of them have been discovered recently, but their traces on the surface cannot be seen. The state of the Magyars who settled in the Carpathian-basin in 895-896, was organized by István I (1000-1038), who was crowned king in 1000. He divided the territory of the country into administrative counties. Lake Balaton region was shared by three counties: Somogy had the southern shore, Veszprém and Zala shared the northern shore. An episcopacy was also founded by the king in Veszprém, and all the three counties belonged to this canonical administration. King István I ordered a convent to be set up on the episcopal see, and his consort Princess Gizella of Bavaria had the episcopal cathedral erected. The site of the former is well-known, but yet unexcavated. The walls of the central episcopal church are hidden in the present cathedral that was