Cseri Miklós, Füzes Endre (szerk.): Ház és ember, A Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum évkönyve 9. (Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 1994)

PÁLL lSTVÁN-SISA BÉLA: A tivadari harangtorony rekonstrukciója

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE TIVADAR BELFRY ín each of the open air museums of Hungary there is a smaller or larger church or belfry, either transplanted or preserved in situ. The designers of the Sóstó Museum Village planned to present a spindleshaped (orsós) settlement, characteristic of Eastern Hungary today. The main street of the villages of this structure broaden out in the middle giving room, among others, to the church and the belfry. Accordingly these buildings were planned to be in the centre of the Museum Village so that two unique products of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County's wooden architecture can be showed. Originally one of the about 20 belfries, still standing in the surrounding villages, was to be transferred to Sóstó, but plans were changed so that no small settlement should be made poorer by the removal of its perhaps only significant monument. Finally the Tivadar belfry, only existing in photos and a survey sketch, and the 18th century wooden-frame church that used to stand in Kisdobrony, were chosen for reconstruction. The belfry, set up in 1757 by Mózes Papp, master carpenter at Tivadar and disassembled in 1937, was reerected in the Sóstó Museum Village in 1993. Using the photos and the sketch, architect Béla Sisa prepared the working drawings by the out of use medieval „circlesquare and triangle" (kör-négyszöges tiangulás) method. Construction was performed by Romanian carpenters in the employ of the Kiss Ltd. based in Szatmárnémeti, Romania. The preparation of the timber began in 1992 in Bikszád (Romania), and construction of the hand hewn beams started in Sóstó during May 1993. Applying technologies of medieval origin and using timbers similar to those in use centuries ago, the four carpenters finished in less than three months the belfry which offers one of the most spectacular sights in terms of architecture to the visitors of the Museum. It is possible now to set up other wooden towers by the same method in special cases, where it is needed. The experiences gained here can be put to use in the repair and renovation of existing belfries. Free-standing bell towers are the most difficult and daring creations of the carpentry of yore and this reconstruction have greatly contributed to what we know of the medieval art of carpentry.