Horváth M. Ferenc (szerk.): Vác The heart of the Danube Bend. A historical guide for residents and globetrotters (Vác, 2009)
Tartalom
RESETTLEMENT AND THE AGE OF THE GREAT CONSTRUCTIONS - THE 18TH CENTURY 127 soon started their replacement building work. With the grant of Lord Chief Justice Count István Koháry they began to build their church and monastery. For all the bishop's prohibition they * exploited the stones of the former castle and incorporated them into the walls of their monastery that still stands on the same spot. Quite ||9|| a few of these special and finely carved stones were taken to the new cathedral, while the hand basin that had been carved from Miklós Báthori's tomb can still be seen on the corridor of the monastery. Part of the monastery was built on top of the old walls of the castle, while in other places only the foundation of the old walls was left, buried by earth. Orchards were planted and farm buildings such as pens, bakeries and a cloth workshop were set up there. The great constructor bishops, the Althanns and Migazzi, landscaped the Danube bank as well: the riverside below the downtown was paved, a road was built, trees were planted, bridges were built over the open drains and sewer ditches . running into the Danube - all in all they made a the town healthier and look nicer. However, the icy flood of 1775 destroyed the paved bank and by the middle of the following centu- WHS* iKB ry it had disappeared W| without trace. In the course of the 18th century JHm M several more signifi- iSg cant constructions fs JU i were completed, some Má of which were donated by S Mil associations or individuals. The seal of the Postmaster of Vác, made in 1782 J The seal of the Franciscan Monastery of Vác, 1746 The return of the bishops brought misery to the Protestant inhabitants of the town. For quite a while the Protestants of Kisvác had no other choice than holding their services in a wooden prayerhouse, and it was only after the edict of tolerance by Joseph II in 1781 that they were allowed to employ a minister and build a church of their own in 1785. However, they could only build this church somewhat hidden off the Main Road. Apart from them, the Serbian, Macedonian and Albanian inhabitants of the Orthodox Christian faith had a considerable community in the town and in 1792 they built a church as well. Later some of them left the town and others had became Hungarianized by the end of 1^ the century. In the 1710s Hétkápolna (Seven Chapels) Church was built near the road on the southern edge of the town. This place is associated with the legend of the The Danube bank in 1812 Franciscan Church and Monastery, 1812 Franciscan friar ? y;-'r . % ycTv- -äÜÜ m
