Szőllősy Csilla - Pokrovenszki Krisztián (szerk.): Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis - Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei. C. sorozat 45. (Székesfehérvár, 2017)

Tanulmányok/közlemények - Régészet - Szücsi Frigyes - Morgós András - Horváth Emil: A székesfehérvári új Budai kapu 17 -18. századi fahídja: ásatási és dendokronológiai eredmények

Szűcsi Frigyes - Morgás András — Horváth Emil: A székesfehérvári új Budai kapu 17-18. századi fahídja: ásatási és dendrokronológiai eredmények

Frigyes Szűcsi - András Morgós - Emil Horváth

Excavation and dendrochronologicaű results of the new Buda gate of the city wat t, of Székesfehérvár

(Hungary) from the 17th-18th century

Archaeological methods alone could not result in a clear hypothesis of the oak archaeological finds excavated at the recent Main Street (leading to the Buda Gate of the walled Inner Town) in Székesfehérvár. Datings established by dendrochronology helped in the interpretation. Thanks to the dendrochronological dating we could localise the first pile pier (SE 2013/05-07 [Szfv32—33], SE 2013/28—29 [Szfv37-38]) of the wooden moat bridge of the new Buda Gate, which is coexistent with the opening of the gate in 1602 at the place of today’s Várkapu Street No. 2. The winger pile of this row is visible on the watercolour of vice-constable Ferenc Wathay painted in 1602 representing the 1602 siege of Fehérvár by the Turks. The piles excavated at the intersection of the recent Main Street and Arnold Marosi Street we could interpret as bridge pillars. Additionally, thanks to the dendrochronological dating, we could calculate the length of the former wooden moat-bridge and indirectly the width of the moat. Based on the preceding, the width of the northern moat and the length of the wooden bridge spanning over the moat, resulted about 150 m between 1602 and 1753 at least. The incomplete rescue excavations and the fact that the rising section of the piles was preserved mainly only in the black muddy layer (the so-called 6 * layer defined by archaeologist Gyula Siklósi), does not allow the accurate reconstruction of the bridge structure. Based on the dendrochronological dating and the archaeological position of the finds, the wooden bridge was renewed several times during the period of almost two centuries. Structural modifications were also likely to be made on these occasions. The 6 engravings and city maps and layouts show a wooden bridge structure with 5—7 pile rows. Before 1741, we can conclude the structure of the bridge exclusively by the engraving of

J. Ch. Leopold completed after F. B. Werner’s drawing. It shows three horizontal piles in the middle and one lean (twarf) and another one at each sides, constructing a five-pile pier. Actually, we cannot confirm the reality of the mentioned detail of the engraving with another archaeological proof or historical source.

203