F. Mentényi Klára szerk.: Műemlékvédelmi Szemle 1994/2. szám Az Országos Műemléki Felügyelőség tájékoztatója (Budapest, 1994)

MŰHELY - Gere László: Előzetes jelentés a szigligeti alsó vár régészeti feltárásáról

compared to the medieval castles of the region - Rezi, Tátika, Csobánc -, so he pointed out two building periods. In the first period the part called castle was built, fortified with two towers at both ends. In the second period the first floor of the towers, the southern and northern castle wall and the northern gate tower were built. This period was dated to 1348, when the castle got to the possession of the Móriczhida line of the Pok family. But the building periods of the upper castle were contradicted by certain facts observed by Károly Kozák, such as the 10-13th century ceramics pieces found by the western castle wall. These determine the age of the castle wall. The excavation of the lower castle has begun in 1992. The results have disproved not only Kozák's idea concerning the building time of the lower castle between the end of the 15th century, beginning of the 16th century and it would be the the merit of Imre Martonfalvay, defining indirectly the building time of the upper castle. In the first year of the excavation the northern tower of Giulio Turco's 1569 plan was opened up. Its area is 6x2,5 m and is quite near to the castle wall, although it is not built together with it. Among the layer above the tower's building rubble fragments of dishes made on potter's wheel, decorated with wavy lines and zig-zag pattern were found. They might be dated to the secont third of the 14th century. All this means that by this time the lower castle should have been built. The early building of it is proved by the matching frame stones of the foundations in the paralelly built farm-building and under the earliest yard level. The age determination would be helped by ceramics found in the oven of the first and earliest walking level of the yard. On the ground plan of 1569 in the middle fo the western castle wall a quadratic closed tower is to be seen. In reality here the remains of a semicircular tower are to be found, based on the rock and built together with the western castle wall. A rectangular complementary building is attached to the exterior of the tower, the second pavement level of the yard was made on its rubble. This large-scale reconstruction might be connected with the buildings of Imre Martonfalvay between 1530-40. Beside the western castle wall a building of two parts, 15 x 15,5 m size was excavated. The unusually thick dividing wall was pulled down to the pavement level, so it was most probably not used for a long time and the pile holes by the inner longitudinal wall level of the building were also destroying it in a layer of 60 cms. The destruction of the building and the castle took place in the same period of the time. The observations made at the excavation of the pile holes and the yard level, the first and earliest level outside the building indicate that the building of two parts had also been built in the early period of the castle. In the latest, 17th century pavement level of the yard two further ovens were opened up. In them fragments of delicately made red-clay dishes with green and brown glaze were found. The last, third pavement level of the yard must have been made about 1630, when the captain of the castle was Boldizsár Lengyel, who had begun large-scale reconstruction work in the castle.