S. Perémi Ágota (szerk.): A Laczkó Dezső Múzeum Közleményei 28. (Veszprém, 2014)

Rainer Pál: A veszprémi Szentivánszeg a középkorban (Írott források és régészeti emlékek)

SOLYMOSI 2000 = SOLYMOSI L: Veszprém korai történetének néhány kérdése. Einige Fragen der Frühgeschichte von Veszprém. In Kredics L. szerk.: Válaszúton. Pogányság—kereszténység, Kelet-Nyugat. Konferencia a X-XI. század kérdéseiről. Veszprém 2000. május 8-10. Veszprém, 2000, 129-157.

VÉGHELY 1886 = VÉGHELY D.: Emléklapok rendezetttanácsú Veszprém város közigazgatási életéből. (Az 1875. évi jelentés töredéke.) Veszprém, 1886.

VPRO = A veszprémi püspökség római oklevéltára. Monumenta romana episcopatus vesprimiensis. 1—4. köt. szerk. Fraknói V. Budapest, 1896—1907.

SZENTIVÁNSZEG OF VESZPRÉM IN THE MIDDLE AGES

(Written sources and archaeological data)

The regions of the medieval Veszprém were called ‘szeg’, these surrounded the Várhegy (‘Castlehill’), which was the inhabitancy of the bishop and his chapter. One of these was Keresztelőszentjánosszeg (‘St. John the Baptist szeg’) or in a more Hungarian way: Szentivánszeg (‘St. Ivan szeg’).

The name derives from the St. John parish church, once located here. The earliest mention of this parish church was in 1335, but according to our recent knowledge, this church had surely been standing from 1209 till 1515. We can suppose that there must had been a cemetery as well, it can be prooved by archaeological methods. On the Northern side of the parish church, there was a chapel for the Blessed Virgin, mentioned in 1464 and 1484. The church was near to the Büdöstó (‘Stink Lake’), and it was the first station of the procession on Corpus Christi starting in the Basilica of St. Michael in the early 16th century, thus it couldn’t be far from the castle. The parish church lived through 3 and a half centuries, but it had been abandoned by 1550, and might have been destroyed with the surrounding town parts during the first turkish occupation of the town in 1552.

The citizens of Veszprém, which had been renewed in the baroque era, couldn’t correctly localize this onetime part of the town. Though the restoration of the city in the modern era (except of the Várhegy) mostly cannot be considered as the automatic continuation and regeneration of the medieval town parts, it can be stated for sure, that Szentivánszeg had been in the SE direction from the castle, where the modern town part, called Cserhát is located now. To find the exact place, we can get

help from the diploma of 1355 and 1395, where the Büdös-tó, which had been near to the parish church, was mentioned. This Büdös-tó has surely been in connection with the Büdös-kút (‘Stink- well’), located in front of the house on the address 127 Árva Street (todays front of Thököly Street) in the middle of the 19th century. It might had been a spring-well, which was called ‘Stink Lake’ because its watery and smelly surroundings.

St. Ivan was the patron saint of leatherers, curriers, inkeepers and hosts during the Middle Ages, his cult could have spread here via Byzantium. There had been plenty of restauranters and hosts in this area, because the main road coming from Fehérvár was nearby, the merchants had to be served. The modern name, Cserhát, has certainly came from the Hungarian word for the leatherers, thus it can be supposed, that leatherers had lived there, in Szentivánszeg even in the Middle Ages. The name, ‘Stink Lake’ can also be in relation with the not very sweet-scented job of curriers.

There has never been excavation in the area of Cserhát, there has only been smaller observations, and rescue excavations. Although the huge building operations during the 1960s and 1970s, could have given a good chance, but, of course, because of political reasons, it was impossible. The leaders of the single-party state era were not keen on the ‘feudal’ history of their cities. Moreover, the local party house was in this region of the town. The town part of Cserhát is now densely inhabited, thus the thought of a serious archaeological research over this area has been delayed for a long time, in fact, it became impossible.

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