A műemlékek sokszínűsége (A 28. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1998 Eger, 1998)

Előadások / Presentations - SEBESTYÉN József: Saxon and székely fortofoed churches in Transylvania

edge up to the present day where people withdrew to in times of attack. Such places of refuge include the cave beside the Vargyas river, or the caverns on the rocky sides of Budvár and Rez above Székelyudvarhely. Typical was the attitude of a section of the Marosvásárhely population, even at the beginning of the 17th century, who considered retreat a safer response to attack than construction of fortifications around the church. They were also commonly motivated by fear of losing their privileges when they strove to prevent a castle being built in their area. In the few places where fortifications were constructed nonetheless, it was by command of the ruler, like the Székely Támadt and Székely Bánja castles in Székelyudvarhely and the Várhegy castle in Háromszék, built to keep the Székely population under control. However, the increasingly frequent Turkish raids forced more and more villages along the main routes, and later elsewhere, to build forts for the protection of their life and possessions. Their decisions may have been accelerated by the destruction caused by Turkish and Mongol attacks, but the demands of church reconstruction and expansion were also contributory factors. The appearance of stone-built bell towers in Székelyföld can be dated to the second half of the 15th century and the first half of the 16th. It was at the same time that walls, albeit without loopholes, were built outwards from the towers to surround churches probably requiring repair in any case due to earthquake damage. The first reports of earthquakes devastating villages in Székelyföld are from 1473. The first, simplest and most widespread form of fortified church to evolve in the area was the enclosed church. From the beginning of the 16th century, many stronger, higher castle walls were built around churches. Most of these had the form of an oval or irregular polygon, reinforced by counterforts, with a single tower to guard the gate and house the church bell. Such are to be found in Csikkarcfalva, and in the Háromszék villages of Feltorja, Gidófalva and Zabola, and the same kind, by now completely destroyed or demolished, protected the inhabitants and churches in Bikfalva, Kézdiaibis and Uzon, also in Háromszék. On the other hand, there is a substantial number of larger 16th century forts with several external defensive towers. The best-preserved of these are at Bölön and Sepsiszentgyörgy, and there are ruins at Alsócsernáton, Illyefalva and Homoródszentmárton. Construction of these church fortifications, with the exception of the last, were largely complete by the middle of the 16th century. Evidence for this comes from a letter of 1571 in which the Székely people put a complaint to the holy orders: „... Castles and Churchyards were built for their protection and reinforced at great expense with rifles, men, powder and shot, from which some has been taken away by bailiffs, we beg that they make recompense." These castle walls were built with covered battlemented parapet and a projecting machicolated gallery mounted on consoles, or with sunken loopholes. These kind of machicolated loopholes are mostly found in fortifications in Barcaság, attesting to the interaction between builders in neighbouring areas. The defensive towers, sometimes arched, but more often square, were covered with inwardly-sloping semi-hip roofs similar to the Saxon forts. The walls and towers were often capped with battlements in various forms. A date carved into a stone on the north side of the castle wall in Gidófalva, in Háromszék, suggests that the fortified church was completed by 1501. The fortifications built in the final years of the 15th century around this 13th century church were burned down by the raiding Mongols in 1658. The church was repaired in 1672, as recorded by a plaque. The stonemason mentioned on the inscription, Stephanus Zilai, also worked on the repair of the Bodok fort-church in 1651. The very strong earthquake that devastated Háromszék in 1802 caused severe damage to the church. This is presumably when the upper part of the castle wall's former battlemented parapet collapsed and was not subsequently restored. Repairs carried out between 1812 and 1816 included erection of the tower and replacement of the roof. Their completion is also commemorated by a plaque. The castle church in Feltorja is similar, as is that built in the 16th century on the peak which rises above the boundary of Csikkarcfalva and Jenőfalva. The Gothic church consecrated to the Holy Virgin Mary was built at the end of the 15th century. Its high, strong, castle wall, with loopholes and covered battlement, is