Economic Growth Hungary Project #2132

Szadvar castle project and youth camp, Hungary

by Friends of Szadvar (Szadvarert Barati Kor)

Szadvar castle project and youth camp, Hungary

Project Report | Dec 30, 2020
Small Steps and Big Dreams

By Viktoria Pomazi-Horvath | Association Member

Towards the end of the year, many of us would like to look back to the achieved results, experiences, the good and bad moments as well. The year 2020 has been a very tough one so far as our world has been changed in many ways. Among personal matters, our association has also faced a variety of new challenges, as we have been trying to continue our work during quarantine times.

The most important news since our last report was made in early September, is that the resconstruction works of the Hungarian National Castle Programme have been finished, which means every tourist who will visit Szadvar Castle from now on, will see a brand new face of the former ruins. Beside the reinforced and rebuilt stone walls and bastions, several wooden benches and information boards can grab the attention of the interested (or tired) tourists. Some of our volunteers have already seen the final results during lonely visits, but most of us will hopefully meet the new castle in March 2021. If you can, please come and visit Szadvar, there is so much to see there!

Many of our members and volunteers were delighted with the news that the 'Save the Castle'-days could be organized at the end of October. Despite the fact that the meeting and the physical work took place in compliance with health regulations, 22 volunteers chose to join the autumn cleaning works, of which 3 people decided to join the association as regular members. The weather gods were rather gracious to us: except for the morning fog, the sky was mainly clear during the two-day event. First, we cleaned the area of the outer castle gate from the rising weed, then we formed pretty piles of fallen stones. It was a great outdoor programme for everybody!

In November, we prepared a documentation for a competition for civil organizations, where the winners will receive a grant for their operation costs such as administration, communication, HR development costs and device acquisition. The final decision and the winners will be announced early next year.

We hold our usual members' conference every month online, where we can discuss the actual tasks and problems. We are really looking forward to meeting in person again, if it is possible. In the meantime, we are currently working in the background.

On behalf of my pal members and volunteer colleagues, I would like to thank You for every single contribution made for Szadvar Castle and for the region's better future. We wish all of You a Happy New Year!

Links:

New pictures of the rebuilt castle and its environment

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Sep 4, 2020
The Most Awaited Time of the Year

By Viktoria Pomazi-Horvath | Association Member

Wearing our new T-shirts

Even at the last minute, it was doubtful that we could held our long-awaited summer event named "Save the Castle" Week. Future changes of the epidemic situation were unpredictable, but after the previous cancelled programme in March, we definitely wanted to organize the summer excavation. Fortunately, this has been realized successfully.

Our "Save the Castle" Weeks are often held on the first week of August, when the weather is generally perfect for an outdoor work. This year, the first participants had arrived the Sunday before, and the last ones stayed until next Friday. As we had met in person only in last October, everyone was happy to see each other. All the more so, as new people came to participate among the good-known "old ones". This was the first time that one of our members, Adam, brought his 4-year-old son with himself. Marci really enjoyed the excavation, as many of other children did.

On the first morning, after arriving at the top of castle hill, everyone was highly surprised about the view in front of them. We knew that the works of the National Castle Programme are in progress, but the actual state of the stone walls was astonishing. Never seen parts of the castle showed up from underground, plus new wooden elements (stairs, storage boxes for the stones etc.) impressed us. Then, due to the temporary built lift, we did not have to carry our heavy tools with us, but put them into a basket. It was a huge relief, we are grateful for the help! The change was really spectacular, as other tourists also remarked. We are really looking forward to viewing the results!

Long before the excavation, in consultation with the museum, it was decided that we could excavate on the southwest area of the castle. No previous researches were conducted in this part, so the volunteers were curious about it. According to some old engravings and elderly people, one of the castle's bastions stood here in the past centuries. The other part of the volunteers worked not so far from here, in search of a long-lost basement.

With the kind help of Miklos, "Chef of Szadvar Castle", there were no hungry volunteers during lunch breaks. When we stopped for a while as the Sun shined strongly, we could offer our freshly printed issue, fridge magnet and Szadvar Castle-model for the visiting tourists in return for a little donation. Here I would like to express my gratitude for our donators, also on GlobalGiving, who have contributed to this success.

Among the volunteers, there were students of Central European University, who made a local podcast for CEU Medieval Radio about the castle and the present "knights" of it. We hope that the listeners will enjoy it very much!

By the end of the week, new friendships were made, and new information have come to the light in connection with the building's history. We hope that everyone felt comfortable and good during this week and we are really looking forward to meeting again in October, on the "Save the Castle" Days.

Working in summer hot

Fighting the brush

Chill out

The Chef of Szadvar cooks for us

Search for the basement

Links:

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Jun 8, 2020
New challenges in our life

By Viktoria Pomazi-Horvath | Volunteer member

.In the last report, were were looking forward to meeting in March as usual. Unfortunately, Covid-19 overwrote our plans as every event was cancelled to prevent the spreading of the epidemic. During the quarantine, all of us had to get used to the new circumstances and continue the project at home. Let's see what have our members done!

First of all, the saddest moment of the year so far was when we had to cancel the "Save the Castle!" days in March. During this event, there would have been our annual general meeting which was postponed due to Covid-19. As time went by, we decided to organize a digital voting on last year's reports instead of meeting by person. In general, there is a Skype.conversation in the beginning of every month whose role have been enchanced in this new situation. We have used all kind of digital platforms to keep in touch and prepare for a better future.

Our next important project is to design and create new types of T-shirts, baseball caps, fridge magnets and other small objects with the images of our association and Szadvar castle, which can be given to people who decide to donate some amount of money. Also the completion and refreshment of our little publication is due recently, but fortunately, the preparation work can be done on-line.

In February, we informed our Donators that a new article about our activity is set to be finished. We are glad to tell that the article was published also in English language on the page of Hungarian Archaeology, in the issue 1 of 2020. (see the link bottom)

One of our members decided to renew the information board standing near to the castle, so he repainted the wood frame. The board looks like new again!

We are pleased to report on the reconstruction works of the National Castle Programme, which are going really well. As the situation became safer, some of our members visited the castle all alone, and wrote reports and sent photos of the actual state. All of us were truly happy to see our beloved castle awakened.

Now, it looks like that we can organize the excavation week in August, so the preparation process has started. We hope that there will be at least as many enthusiastic participants as in the last few years. Let's see!

Links:

Article about our activity in Hungarian Archaeology

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