Múzeumi Füzetek Csongrád 4. - Szent István Királyi Vármegyeszékhelye Csongrád. Ismertető a Tari László Múzeum időszaki kiállításához 2000. április 28 - augusztus 10. (Csongrád, 2001.)
St. István's county town: Csongrád
St. István' s county town: Csongrád A larger part of the territory of Csongrád county, as a segment of the Hungarian castle and county system, was formed on the right bank of the River Tisza. From the Árpád Age most of the coins, which were discovered in the county and around Csongrád settlement, date from Béla Ill's time (1172-1196). The discovery of a treasure at Faragó Cottege Csongrád is made up of 12-13 century "foreign" means of payment called bracteata and friesach coins. We can conclude from the sources by Anonymous, who was a historian in the early medieval times, that Chief Ond and his son Ete as well as the Bor-Kalán Clan were the first occupiers (conquerors) of the county territory. Two clan monasteries, Szer and Elles, were built in the county. The county territory, beside the county and royal lands, was owned by the Clans. The Clan monasteries were raised up on the clan properties. According to Anonymous, Árpád and his chiefs managed to arrange the country in a legal way. Here the first stone church was built at the end of the 10th century, at the beginning of the 11th century and the first monastery-church was built in the 11th century (There have been alteration to it in the course of time). The Elles, monastery was located on the right bank of the River Tisza, 3 km away from the Csongrád settlement. In the second half of the 11th century, it was a Benedictine monastry with 3 naves arranged like a basilic. Trough the late centuries the church, its surroundings and the group of buildings of the nearby village changed several times until the 16th century. According to the archaeological findings the teaching of Latin language, writing of codices and charters started early at the monastery school. The castle made of earth and stone was supposed to stand somewhere in the angle of the rivers Tisza and Körös, at the centre of the royal county of Csongrád. The medieval castles were administrative as well as being church centres. Csongrád Castle could only have been military fort. According to Anonymous, Ond' s son Ete built Csongrád Castle with the Slavic inhabitants of the area. Its location is thought to have been between alpár and Bold. On the basis of this the present Downtown area has been searched but this theory has not yet been justified. Based on the 11th century place names the castle was supposed to be on the left bank of the River Tisza. Other examinations have discovered that the Slav, later Árpadian aged castle and the castle of Turkish times stood on two different sites. The most recent suggestions are that the Earth Castle, the centre of the royal county, was supposed to be on Szentes - Castle hill surrounded by the River Kurca, but this theory could only be justified by an entire archaeological excavation.
