Szőcs Péter Levente (szerk.): Căpleni. Ghid cultural şi istoric (Satu Mare, 2009)

The Roman Catholic Monastery of Sf. Anthony of Padua

The Roman Catholic Monastery of

St. Anthony of Padua

Throughout the history, the Károlyi family had a special connection with the monastery of Căpleni, founded by the Kaplony kindred. The monastery, financed exclusively by the members of the family, had as main purpose to assure the salvation of the souls of the patrons and to display their social prestige. The members of the patronizing family had a special place in the church during the liturgy, and they had the right to be buried inside the edifice. The first written source on the monastery of the Kaplony family of Căpleni dates from 1267. Though, the local tradition, started by Count Alexander Károlyi, stands for the founding of the monastery rather early, in 1080. The Count mentions in his memoirs a document in the family archives, dating from 1195, which attests the foundation of the monastery with more than a century earlier. Unfortunately, this single written source, which would have placed the monastery of Căpleni among the earliest ecclesiastical institutions of medieval Hungary, was lost, and thus, the year of the foundation of the monastery remains uncertain. The medieval monastery was dedicated to St. Martin. The single information on life of the monastery was preserved in an inventory, made in 1444, which reveals its richness. Another source, from 1479, mentions that the monastery church was fit with

Sf. Martin cu reprezentarea celor trei faze ale mănăstirii

Szt. Márton és a kolostor templom három fázisa

St. Martin with the three fase of the monastery church

Mănăstirea franciscană din Căpleni

A kaplonyi ferences kolostor

The Franciscan monastery of Căpleni

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