F. Mentényi Klára szerk.: Műemlékvédelmi Szemle 1993/1. szám Az Országos Műemléki Felügyelőség tájékoztatója (Budapest, 1993)

MŰHELY - Jánó Mihály: A székelydályai református templom kutatása

zur Restaurierung und Konservierung der berühmten Gewölbemalerei gab, dies alles zu wenig im Vergleich zu den Aufgaben ist, die zur Rettung der Ganzheit der Kirche auf eine Lösung warten. Mihály JÁNÓ ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE CALVINIST CHURCH AT SZÉKELYDÁLYA (DAIA) In the summer of 1992 in connection with and following the reinforcement work made necessary by the deterioration of the choir's construction, the partial architectural-historical investigation of the whole church was made. The yet unfinished investigation has brought important results that could be summarized the following way: the village of Székelydálya is to be found in the valley of the brook Dálya, belonging to the river-system of Kis-Homoród, in the southern part of the medieval Udvarhelyszék (today Hargita county). The earliest mention of the village is in the papal tithe inventory of 1333. The church of medieval origin, with unknown dedication has a characteristic slender tower newly covered with tin and stands in the center of the village. The original Romanesque church was made of two parts, with a short cut apse and rectangular nave, and must have been built in the second half of the 13th century. The interiour of the church was covered with wall paintings. In the course of the archeological investigation the foundation walls of the apse were found, with original wall painting (drapery ornaments), but on the northern walls of the present nave were also found traces of 13th century painting. In the middle of and in the second half of the 15th century the whole church was repainted. From this period are the wall paintings on the Northern and Southern walls of the nave with fragments of the Ladislas-legend and a largesize representation of St. George. Similar fragments of wall paintings were discovered in the apse. In this period was built the simple ogival Southern porch and a small, early Gothic window on the Southern wall. The first important rebuilding of the church took place around the mid 15th century or in the second half of it, when on the place of the small Romanesque apse a longer, Gothic one was built, ending with the five sides of the octogon. At the end of the century the painting of the choir began, and heightening the walls of the nave the two Southern Gothic windows of the nave and Gothic buttresses were made. In the course of investigation a Gothic holy water stoop was also found in the North-Eastern wall of the apse with fragments of wall paintings (St. Margaret representation, etc.) around it. The well-known Renaissance painting of the apsevault with a decoration of coats-of-arms, figurai representations and foliage was made in the first third of the 16th century. Considering the distorted arches of the ribs and the missing elements, it is possible that the apse was revaulted before the painting. There was no evidence of the vaulting of the nave.