Szadvar castle project and youth camp, Hungary

Times passes by so quickly. 

It was already five years ago that a group of people from all over the county ascended to Szadvar to dig out the ruins of the medieval castle from its 300 years Cinderella like dream. 5 years later again a few dozen volunteers gathered again in the valley of the Menes river at the Szalamandra house to clean up the castle from its winter sleep. It was a beautiful relatively warm day. We greeted our old friends and welcomed newcomers. We really appreciate that people spend their time and money to save a piece of medieval history.

The team climbed up the hill and reached the outer gate in 25 minutes. After short orientations smaller teams started cutting the foliage, collecting garbage and stones on the southern side of the castle. 

We were especially pleased to welcome the representatives of Saros castle (Slovakia) whom came to Szadvar for the first time and we have every reason to believe that it is the start of a long term cooperation.  On Monday the joined teams got into their cars and drove up to Saros to check out how the works progress up there. 

Due to the grants and donations we are ready to start the conservation works in the summer on the eastern wall and provided we can raise an additional $3000 we will also conduct our first excavation workshop in July or August. 

We would also love you to join any of these efforts. Please contact us for details if you want to have a medieval experience.

Links:

• www.szadvar.hu

Dear Szadvar Supporters, Donors, Friends,

Approaching the end of the year we would like to thank you for your support, contribution and hard work! Our collaboration has been recognized by the Hungarian Government on Dec 16th when our organization was given the Karoly Kos Award. The award has been given since 1999 to local organizations that according to the funders "have done an outstanding job protecting our local historical heritage".  

As the award justification stated:

"Many of the castles that are far from the major tourist centers are in bad shape and disappear from our eyes year after year. Szadvar was part of this group until a group of volunteers decided to save it. The members of the Association cleaned up the courtyards, carried out a geodesical survey and started to conserve the walls and towers. The Association expanded its activities organizing a youth camp for children from 3 countries."
 
As we look back at 2010 we feel immensely proud to see the remaining wall of the old 15th century palace preserved for the future as well the northern part of the outer courtyard unearthed. We are grateful that thanks to the donations and grants we were able to spend multiple occasions this year at the castle and make progress according to our long term plans. Judging from the increase of visitors we are on the right path to help this long forgotten castle wake up from its Cinderella dream and assist the economical development of the village of Szogliget.

Thanks to our supporters we can optimistically look forward to 2011, despite the less than optimal economic conditions we are only a little bit behind with our fundraising goals and aim to complete the restoration of the northern wall as well as excavate the outer courtyard to learn more about the histroy of the castle. The excavations are expected to take place in August please let us know if you were interested joining us.

Again, thank you for your support and please think about Szadvar in 2011!