Mezősiné Kozák Éva: A vértesszentkereszti apátság (Művészettörténet - műemlékvédelem 5. Országos Műemlékvédelmi Hivatal, 1993)

Angol nyelvű összefoglaló

lived in it. He requested the Pope to yield it to the Paulines. Though the Pope gave his consent, it didn't take place. King Matthias repeated the petition in 1478, and asked the Pope, to let him annex the Dominican cloister dedicated to the honour of St. Margaret outside the walls of the town Fehérvár. The Pope fulfilled the King's request, and the members of the Dominican Order populated the abbey where life restarted. The first task of the Dominicans was to rebuild the deteriorated, ruined abbey building. The construction was characterized with modesty, and the economic use of the available building material. With the pulling down of the early church, the parochial functions were transferred to the big church, so here smaller alterations were carried out. The rear end of the church was separated with a rood screen, where they provided a separate place for the secular believers. The cloister quadrate was built on by them round the inner court, the ambulatory corridors and the new wing is only rebuilt, the row of premises mostly kept their original function (the sacristry, the chapter-room, the gathering place besides became a presence chamber, the dining room). The eastern wing is extended with a chapel built to the building. With the elimination of the western wing the functions of the rooms operating here also was taken over by the places to be found in the northern side. With the use of the building material of the pulled down parts was the two refectories (summer and winter) and the kitchen built up. The Dominicans were absorbed thoroughly in their studies, so each had a cell of his own. Certainly, the row of cells were located on the first floor area. On the Northern part a latrine was found, the remain of its pit were excavated. The few remaining 'in situ Gothic details and the profile-forming numerous carvings included in the ruins refer to the end of the 15th century. Presumably, the constructions were carried out in the 1840-s, the rich archeological finds support this as well. In the first half of the 16th century there was still busy life existing in the abbey, this fact is also supported by the written records and finds. There were reconstructing works pursued even in the first half of the 16th century in the monastery. The Gothic style ambulatory was pulled down and its stones came to a secondary use. They made window-frames, doorsteps out of these, and placed a Gothic pillar into the kitchen for holding the chimney. The Gothic details were recarved several time, and shaped a Renaissance profile on it. They built a simple ambulatory, opened and ceased the entrance. They replaced the floor covering and built new stoves. The coloured glaze tile covering was replaced by new covering. The mass of building was not changed by reconstruction, the external appearance remained the same size. From the 30-s of the 13th century till the second quarter of the 16th century the new monastic church served as a burial ground. The patron family used the vestibule and the ambulatory corridor for this purpose. Several graves were found in the church interior, and the eastern and western ambulatory corridor as well. The graves accessories became richer, especially the costume goods are noteworthy. In the cloister life was ceased by the Turkish devastation, when in 1543 Tata was seized by the Turks, and the people of the surrounding settlements escaped, and so did the works as well. For the archeological, art historical, historico-cultural and historical research the excavated monastery means a source of material. Architecturally, we can trace from the 12th century to the second quarter of the 16th century the building out of a medieval monastery, from the beginning till the destruction. The material culture refers to the past era's art and to the everyday life of the monks.