{"id":1641,"date":"2026-11-02T16:58:05","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T15:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peregrinus.hu\/?p=1641"},"modified":"2026-11-02T17:14:51","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T16:14:51","slug":"kobe-zart-hit-szekelyfold-vartemplomai-es-falkepei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peregrinus.hu\/en\/kobe-zart-hit-szekelyfold-vartemplomai-es-falkepei\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith set in stone \u2013 The fortified churches and frescoes of Szeklerland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sz\u00e9kely Land For centuries, its churches were simultaneously places of worship and fortresses. The hilltop churches, surrounded by stone walls and bastions, are today the most characteristic architectural monuments of the landscape \u2013 and within their walls, the treasures of medieval painting remain, the like of which can be found in very few places in the Carpathian Basin.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

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Why were fortress churches built?<\/p>

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In the 15th\u201317th centuries, the Szekler villages were often targeted by Tatar and Turkish invasions as well as internal wars. In the absence of castles, the community fortified its strongest building, the church and its garden: they built a stone wall around it, erected bastions and a gate tower, and along the inner side of the wall ran a moat. During times of danger, the villagers, along with their food and valuables, retreated behind the walls. In times of peace, the bastions and the chambers built along the wall served as the village\u2019s common storage facilities \u2013 Sz\u00e9kelyderzsfor example, they kept the salami and smoked meat there.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

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Sz\u00e9kelyderzs \u2013 World heritage along the Homor\u00f3d river<\/p>

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The Unitarian Cathedral in Sz\u00e9kelyderzsi has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1999: this is the only Szekler settlement among the seven sites of the \u201eFortified Villages of Erd\u00e9ly\u201d: the rest are Saxon villages. The church was built in the 15th century, and its fortifications date from the 17th century. Its greatest treasure is the St. L\u00e1szl\u00f3 legend painted in 1419, one of the best-preserved examples of the painting type, but it is also worth exploring the brick with graffiti found in 1929 and the carved corner stones of the sanctuary.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

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Nagyajta \u2013 the guardian of the Swamp of the Owls<\/p>

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In the forest region, at the highest point of the village, on the hill called \u201eVarj\u00faf\u00e9szek\u201d, stands the Unitarian church of Erd\u0151vid\u00e9k. The five-meter-high, two-towered wall was built around the 14th-century Gothic church with its cloister in the turn of the 16th\u201317th centuries. The stone-carved, cupola-shaped pulpit is among the oldest pulpits in Transylvania. During the complete restoration from 2019 to 2021, a hidden mural was also unearthed: another detail of the legend of Saint Ladislaus.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Sepsiszentgy\u00f6rgy \u2013 the city\u2019s church<\/p>

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The Reformed Cathedral in Sepsiszentgy\u00f6rgy acquired its present late Gothic form in 1547, when Dacz\u00f3 P\u00e1l, its patron, rebuilt it at his own expense. At that time, it was surrounded by a double castle wall and two defensive towers; the outer wall was demolished in 1786. The defensive structure is now surrounded by more than seventy headstones that commemorate the deceased teachers and students of the Sz\u00e9kely Mik\u00f3 College.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Saint Ladislaus legend: a Sz\u00e9kely Land joint picture book<\/p>

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The same story unfolds over and over again on the northern walls of the 14th-15th century churches of Szeklerland: Saint Ladislaus the King marches out against the Kun people, chases down the Kun warrior who kidnaps girls, and with the help of the rescued girl defeats him. The knightly king was especially dear to the Szeklers as a defender of the border region, and therefore the legend appears in almost every significant medieval church. The most beautiful scenes Sz\u00e9kelyderzscan be seen in Gelenc\u00e9 and Homor\u00f3dkar\u00e1csonyfalva \u2013 in the latter, the cycle runs for more than eleven meters along the wall. The scenes were hidden in many places by later insertions \u2013 and at the same time protected \u2013 so that the 20th-century excavations brought them back to light.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

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Gelence \u2013 frescoes and painted cassettes<\/p>

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The St. Emeric Church in Geleni\u021ba is one of the most valuable monuments of Kov\u00e1szna County. The church, built in the 13th century, retains both Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque features. The legend of Saint Ladislaus from the 14th\u201315th centuries is among the best-preserved frescoes in Transylvania, and the nave was painted in the first third of the 17th century; the 103 single-panel painted ceiling is covered with a wooden ceiling.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Visitor advice<\/p>

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