Szadvar castle project and youth camp, Hungary

Why Szadvar?

(A personal note from our last activity.)

I am completely biased to answer this question. I could say just because but then I would lose the exciting details of being part of this great initiative.

I arrived Thursday night to the usual accomodation and spent the next few hours with old (castle) friends.

Next morning by the time we climbed up to the fog covered castle the rain has stopped and we formed smaller teams to execute on the tasks that were lying ahead. Our work was not as spectacular as in the summer but was needed to keep the castle and the surroundings neat.

Some people cut the vegetation, others collected stone for the works planned for next summer while others continued the conservation work on the outer walls.

I was glad to get back to the village have dinner and head to bed to recharge the batteries for the following day. As usual going to bed early was not an option. As we were getting ready to call it the day relief forces signalled their arrival, several people from the distant Csobanc castle (150 miles away) arrived to take part in the effort. Instead of going to sleep we again spent hours to catch up with the newcomers.

Next day beautiful weather waited for us and several new people joined in as well, some from as far as 300 miles from Slovakia. Thanks to the good weather we could enjoy the spectacular panorama of the Aggtelek National Park.

The 7th Save the Castle day ended in a local restaurant where everyone joined in for some singing and dancing.

So why Szadvar? That is why! Because of the 2 days of hard work, of being together for a common goal, to help a local community.

Our activities are covered from donation from all around the world. We would like to thank our donors for making our work possible!

Plans for next year:

- 8th Save the castle day around March 15th to prepare the grounds for the summer works - Archeology camp for students in June - Conservation work on the 15th century gothic palace

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

Dozens of volunteers - under the supervision of the Herman Otto Muzeum and KOH - carried out the most extensive conservation work to date at Szadvar. The work focused on the most endangered section of the ruins, the remanants of the southern wall that once connected the outer gatehouse with the Nemet Bastion.

Our volunteers defying the summer heat removed several layers of earth under the walls, cleaned the walls and covered it with a protective layer to resist the weather conditions. As part of the project 5 previously unknown loopholes were located in the wall, some of them were partially restored during the workshop.

The results of the projects were visible already during the conseravation works. People who never visited the site before decided to check it out. The number of tourists visiting the site has exponentially grown since 2006.

A photoalbum can be viewed here: http://picasaweb.google.hu/nagyonvarbarat/Szadvar2009Julius814#

In mid July the effort of our nonprofit were recognized by the top heritage institute in Hungary, when it received the Podmaniczky price.

We would like to thank our individual domestic and foreign donors, the National Cultural Fund, the Aggtelek National Park, the Otto Hermann Museum, Eszakerdo and KOH for their support!

Contact us if you are interested joining our next workshop planned for late October or have any other comments, questions!

Links:

• http://picasaweb.google.hu/nagyonvarbarat/Szadvar2009Julius814#