Szadvar castle project and youth camp, Hungary

Despite the harsh economic conditions in Hungary our organization is approching another successful year helping the village of Szogliget through the difficult times. Our success is a result of the dedication of our volunteers and donors who has not stopped coming to help out. Thank you! As a result more tourists visit the village and the castle more people spend nights in the guesthouses and use the local services.

Our effort in previous years concentrated on the outer courtyard, however during an inspection last year  we noticed that one of the relatively high standing walls in the inner castle did not have much time left. The wall had become so shaky that a strong wind could blow it down to the Menes valley. This wall belonged to the medieval palace and still had an easily identifiable door and a window.  As the archeologists explained the door used to lead to a small room where our predecessors went in need.

The ruined wall first had to be inspected from an archeological perspective. This work was carried out in July and unearthed several interesting findings. We found objects that people lost while taking care of their business so to speak. We also learnt that there used to be a cellar under the building and found the mostly still intact arches that used to hold the ceiling. Right under the wall the survey uncovered a large whole that could have made the whole whole collapse and this finding spurred the organization to action to speed up the conservation works. Luckily through donations and grants we had enough funds to finance the project that cost more than 6 million forints.

The hole under the wall

The restoration effort took a few weeks and we could not be more proud of the results. The whole under the whole was filled the old door leading to the toalette got a new frame and the whole section is now sure to withstand the weather for another couple centuries.

Above: The medieval toalette after the restoration

In 2012 we are concluding another successful year. We managed to hold another great excavation summer camp where kids and adults alike had a great time and learnt a lot about the castle, history and each other. In addition we saved another piece of history for the future generations of visitors. This is the 5th part of the medival fortress (in bold below) that has been preserved to date. We will not stop here and continue raising the bar and raising more funds to preserve our national heritage and to provide an unparalleled cultural experience for our members.

Links:

• www.szadvar.hu

This summer the association is gearing up for yet another eventful excavation and restoration season. In July our volunteers helped the archeologists from Miskolc to research the only remaining wall of the oldest part of the castle. This wall happens to contain the medieval toalett. The wall is in such bad shape that unless it is conserved it may fall into the valley under it next winter.

We managed to raise enough money to carry out a detailed research on and around the wall as well as strengthen the structure later this year. The research yielded some interesting details we did not know before. The building was at least 2 stories high, the archeologist located the door leading to the toilet as well as the beams holders for the ceiling.

During the week we managed to clean the wall of vegetation and thanks to the research ditch opened just behind the wall now we know that there was a 5-2.5 meter cellar below the building.

In August we will host our international archeologist camp to gain new knowledge of how our predecessors lived in the castle 500 years ago. The work will focus on the outer and middle gate towers, the so called "snail" that was used to transport goods up the hill and in the outer barley.

In September we are scheduled to conserve the toalett wall. We will post pictures when the work is done.

This work could not have been achieved without the help of our donors! Our association greatly appreciates your help!