Horváth M. Ferenc (szerk.): Vác The heart of the Danube Bend. A historical guide for residents and globetrotters (Vác, 2009)
Tartalom
122 RESETTLEMENT AND THE AGE OF THE GREAT CONSTRUCTIONS - THE 18TH CENTURY THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION AND THE GREAT CONSTRUCTIONS Restoration started soon after the liberation wars fought against the Ottoman occupiers had finished. Today we can hardly imagine what enormous mental and physical efforts were needed to clear away the rubble and rebuild the town again. We do not know much about this early period, i.e. the four decades following 1686. Bishop Miklós Balogh, having returned to the town lost no time in re-establishing the bishopric and restoring St Michael's Church and its environment in the Main Square. He and his suc- among others two new parishes were established- and the manorial estate was also reorganized. After the liberation the clearing away of rubble and reconstructions had begun, but two decades' work had to be re-started because of the devastations that had taken place during the Rákóczi's War of Independence. The trenches that were built in the Middle Ages were restored and the town gates were re-erected. The area surrounded by the medieval town walls seemed to be large enough to Bishop Frigyes Mihály Althann Bishop Károly Eszterházy Archbishop-Bishop Kristóf Migazzi cessors aimed not only at rebuilding the town but also reforming Roman Catholic religious life. The execution of these two targets was visibly combined, and the buildings created still demonstrate how active the church was at the time. On one hand administrative measures were taken against the Reformation having spread on the territory of the sometime Ottoman occupation. On the other hand, in order to restore and reinforce Roman Catholic faith the institutional framework of ecclesiastic and religious life was reorganized. The chancery, the bishopric household and the organization of the diocese were renewed live on in the foreseeable future. However, as early as the Middle Ages and the Muslim era there had been families who settled down outside the town walls. It was even more so in the case of the reviving town with a rapidly growing population, whose new buildings occupied more and more space. On the other hand, town walls were not necessary from the point of view of defence any longer. Meanwhile, the town was struck by another disaster. In the conflagration of 1731 nearly the whole town fell to flames. This tragedy was followed by the development plans associated with the bishop-landlords - the Althanns, Károly Eszterházy and Kristóf Migazzi in the first place - which resulted in the revival of the town. What we can see if we walk along the Main Square downtown or Kisvác today View of Vác on a certificate of mastership in the 18th century
