Monumentis project opening press conference in Bratislava
MONUMNTIS project implementation has started on December 1st 2017 and is being funded by the European Regional Development Fund within the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme. Project opening press conference has been organised by the Slovakian project partner on 19 December 2017 in Bratislava.
Please find the TV interviews on the following links:
https://www.tkkbs.sk/view.php?cisloclanku=20180110036
Project management meeting held 9. May 2018. Bratislava Franciscan Monastery
The meeting started with technical issues connecting to the administrative tasks of the project. The procedure of making Joint Marketing Plan was also discussed which is going to be presented at the Closing conference in November 2019. Further common objective of the partners is to organize a Conference connected to the research of Historia Domus. The planned date of the Conference is April 2019, the venue is the Franciscan monastery in Szécsény. The process and organizational tasks were talked over. The closing point of the meeting was about the Travelling exhibition organized jointly by the partners in order to present Franciscan history towards the public.
New garden tools for Szentkút
As a result of project implementation titled Touristic Development of Franciscan Cultural Heritage Sites of the Border Area by the Cooperation of the Two Provinces (MONUMENTIS) (SKHU/1601/1.1/060) within the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme new garden tools have been purchased for the National Shrine of Szentkút, which contribute to making park maintenance work more efficient around the shrine.
NEW MEDICAL EQUIPMENTS FOR THE VISITOR’S HEALTHCARE
As a result of the project Touristic Development of Franciscan Cultural Heritage Sites of the Border Area by the Cooperation of the Two Provinces (MONUMENTIS) (SKHU/1601/1.1/060) financed by the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme visitors have been provided new equipment in the medical room of the National Shrine of Szentkút. The new devices have been already been installed during the PENTECOST PILGIMAGE (8-10. June 2019) at the Shrine.
Archival Sources on the History of Szentkút
Research is being done for months now as a preparation for the Historia Domus conference. With the help of colleagues the historian expert of the project is using not only the volumes of the ‘house history’ kept in the Hungarian Franciscan Library and Archives of Budapest, but also other source materials about Szentkút. A part of these, among others, is the series of visitation records survived in the Esztergom Primate Archives of which the volume of the so-called Batthyány visitation is of outmost significance. On its occasion, Szentkút shrine as a filial church of Nagybárkány parish was visited by the competent canon on 2nd September 1789 with other local ecclesiastical and secular officials being present. The basis of the text included in the volume (Fig. 1) was a draft by parish priest József Kiss, which was commented on by László Kemény (former archdeacon in Nógrád County) on the margin of each page. The latter document was bound in the same volume as the official relations (Fig.2).
The new reception is open on the pavilion line
The new reception, supported by the SKHU/1601/1.1/060 MONUMENTIS project, was open for the first time at the Feast of Saint Anne. From now on it will be open during our largest feasts and pilgrimages in order to inform our guests properly.
Project management meeting in Budapest
In the frame of the SKHU/1601/1.1/060 MONUMENTIS project, the third project management meeting has been held on 23th of September 2019, this time at the Fons Sacer headquarters in Budapest.
In a pleasant atmosphere the representatives of Fons Sacer, the Slovakian partner and the project management company discussed the progress and the results of the project so far, as well as the remaining tasks and upcoming joint activities.
The next public event is planned for 17th of October 2019 in Mátraverebély-Szentkút as a Historia Domus Church History Conference, where the results of the historical research of the project would be presented and discussed.
Invitation and Conference programme is available here: http://skhu.szentkut.hu/historia-domus-konferencia/
The History of the National Shrine of Mátraverebély-Szentkút according to the Historia Domus and Other Archival Sources
The History of the National Shrine of Mátraverebély-Szentkút according to the Historia Domus and Other Archival Sources conference has been organized on 17 October 2019 in Mátraverebély-Szentkút in the frame of the SKHU/1601/1.1/060 MONUMENTIS. The conference presented the newest results of the historia domus researches in Szentkút supported by the project for professionals and guests interested in history. In the conference break the newly published bilingual book of the research results has been presented. The title of the book is Mátraverebély – Szentkút – A Revised History of the Shrine.
The program of the one-day conference covered the history of the National Shrine from the middle ages to the modern era, presenting its historical art historical, ethnographic and literary aspects. Following the spirit of the cross-border project, one presentation focused on the history of the relationship of the Shrine and a nearby Franciscan Community of Fil’akovo.
Furthermore, in the break the visitors had the possibility to view the bilingual exhibition “Franciscan martyrs and monastic life in the communism era” as well.
Restoration works are in progress in the Basilica
As a result of the project Touristic Development of Franciscan Cultural Heritage Sites of the Border Area by the Cooperation of the Two Provinces (MONUMENTIS) (SKHU/1601/1.1/060) financed by the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme three wooden doors of the Basilica have been restored at the National Shrine of Mátraverebély-Szentkút.
The oaken doors to the nave have been renewed and insulated. The wrought iron assemblies and fittings have been painted. The stone frames of the doors have been cleaned by a special technology with replacing the missing parts.
Exhibition about the seven Franciscan martyrs’ life in Szécsény
In the church corridor of the Roman Catholic /Franciscan/ Parish in Szécsény an exhibition about the seven Franciscan martyrs’ life has been opened.
The exhibition can be viewed until end of January. The aim of this event is to forward the respect of those Franciscan martyrs’ who waiting for their beatification. The seven martyrs gave their life for their religion during World War II and the communist dictatorship.
The exhibition was financed by the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme, as a result of the project Touristic Development of Franciscan Cultural Heritage Sites of the Border Area by the Cooperation of the Two Provinces (MONUMENTIS) (SKHU/1601/1.1/060).
The Calvary Chapel will be renovated
The restoration of the Calvary Chapel will be finished in 2020. An urn burial ground will also be developed in this Chapel.
Two reliefs – which represent Saint Michel and Saint Rafael – will decorate the Chapel. The reliefs created by László Mátyássy sculptor.
The sculptures were financed by the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme, as a result of the project Touristic Development of Franciscan Cultural Heritage Sites of the Border Area by the Cooperation of the Two Provinces (MONUMENTIS) (SKHU/1601/1.1/060).
Volume published with the title ’Mátraverebély-Szentkút – A Revised History’
On the occasion of the ’Historia Domus’ Conference organized in Mátraverebély-Szentkút in October 2019 a Hungarian-Slovakian bilingual volume briefly resuming the history of the shrine was published and introduced. Meeting the requirements of MONUMENTIS project, its objective was to lay the groundwork for the research on the history of Szentkút to be carried out using modern methods and viewpoints as well as serious source criticism in order to reveal and correct the often erroneous information and notions that are widely spread in prior literature and public opinion. Before being able to write a comprehensive history of the shrine, editor Dániel Siptár and the conference speakers as co-authors composed the pre-conference book only as a summary that indicates problems evoking the necessary revision of our former knowledge for the expected researchers and those interested in the topic. The extensive and modern monograph is sought to be written based on the conference results in the near future.
The restoration of the sacristy has begun in Szécsény
In the frame of the SKHU/1601/1.1/060 MONUMENTIS project the restoration of the Franciscan Monastery sacristy has been started this November.
The furniture of the sacristy will be shipped to a restoration workshop in Budapest, where it will be restored and cleaned, while the archaeologists are examining the monument of outstanding importance on the spot, in order to reconstruct the original form of the sacristy.
The restoration of the Basilica has begun at the National Shrine of Mátraverebély-Szentkút
In the frame of the SKHU/1601/1.1/060 MONUMENTIS project the restoration of the Basilica has been started this November.
During the work some new stained-glass windows will be made to replace the current windows, which are in bad condition and without thermal insulation; the facade of the church will be coloured and the plinth of the Basilica will be injected.
The renovation is expected to last until the end of May in 2020.
Digital guidance system in Szentkút
As a result of the SKHU/1601/1.1/060 MONUMENTIS project the Szentkút digital guidance system, a state-of-the-art mobile tour guiding application was recently released.
The mobile application is free to download from 1st March. The app, available for iOS and Android phones, grants direct contact options and local guidance for the visitors.
The multilingual digital guidance system, developed by Hungarian-owned EnITLab Ltd, is part of Visitor Next family of products based on Locbee™ technology, which has already proven it usefulness in the Mathias-church.
With this mobile solution new horizons open in familiarizing the visitors with the National Shrine, such as using navigational maps even within the Basilica.
Restoration of sacral objects in Szentkút
Multiple sacral objects are being renovated in Szentkút, for example a processional crucifix, a painting of the Holy Family, and the statue of St. John of Nepomuk. The restoration, funded by the MONUMENTIS SKHU/1601/1.1/060 Interreg Slovakia-Hungary project, is being done by Balázs Fabók restorer artist and his team.
Renovation is in progress in the Franciscan Church of Szécsény
Although due to the COVID-19 epidemic situation church service is intermittent, the renovation works did not stop in the Franciscan Church in Szécsény. In the frame of the SKHU/1601/1.1/060 MONUMENTIS project the renovation of the sacristy is still going on with the wall restoration, while in the church the renovation of the pulpit and the four side altars has begun.
Inauguration of the restored tower and the temple treasury of the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation of Virgin Mary
As a result of the SKHU/1601/1.1/060 MONUMENTIS project on June 25th at 16:00 there will be an inauguration of the restored tower and temple treasury of the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation of Virgin Mary in Bratislava. In addition to a short presentation of the project Monumentis along with a few thank you words of the head of the church and the curator of the permanent exhibition in connection to the historical background of the Franciscan temple there will be an artistic performance after which there will be an opening of the permanent exhibition situated in the temple treasury, a presentation of the travelling exhibitions showing the history of both the Slovak and the Hungarian Franciscan provinces, a virtual presentation but also a unique 3D interactive tour of the newly restored church tower.
Project handover event in Bratislava
In the frame of the SKHU/1601/1.1/060 MONUMENTIS project the tower of the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation of Virgin Mary in Bratislava was renovated, and a permanent exhibition opened in the temple treasury.
The representatives of the Fons Sacer attended the handover event of the Slovakia-Hungary Interreg project on last Thursday in Slovakia. After a project management meeting and a short sightseeing in Bratislava the Hungarian detachment took part in the opening ceremony. The program was adorned by pleasant musical interludes between the speeches. Later the participants visited the restored tower, the temple treasury, and the 3D interactive tour. The event closed with a reception in the church garden.
Novelties in the Castle in Fiľakovo
The renovation of the Castle and creation of the new Franciscan order exhibition of the Castle Museum in Fiľakovo were financed by the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme, as a result of the project Touristic Development of Franciscan Cultural Heritage Sites of the Border Area by the Cooperation of the Two Provinces (MONUMENTIS) (SKHU/1601/1.1/060).
The novelties in this season are the archaeological study trail and craft house, which shows traditional crafts and is also a location for group activities. In the newly shingled bastion of the courtyard information panels provide interesting facts about nearby castles.
Under the Castle a high capacity parking lot was built, and the only surviving bastion of the city was renovated and within an information point was placed for the visitors.
As part of the Interreg project an exhibition about the history of the building and the Franciscan order was also established.
More information about the Castle and the Museum in Fiľakovo: http://www.hradfilakovo.sk/index.php/en/
Restoration of the Basilica completed
As a result of the project Touristic Development of Franciscan Cultural Heritage Sites of the Border Area by the Cooperation of the Two Provinces (MONUMENTIS) (SKHU/1601/1.1/060) financed by the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme the renovation of the Basilica has been completed in Mátraverebély-Szentkút.
Following the restoration of the 3 church gates, further renovation work included painting the exterior of the church, water insulation of the foundation by injection technology, and the restoration of the windows.
The Basilica once again welcomes visitors in all its splendour.
Retaining wall protecting the House of Silence
The construction of the House of Silence was financed by the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme, as a result of the project Touristic Development of Franciscan Cultural Heritage Sites of the Border Area by the Cooperation of the Two Provinces (MONUMENTIS) (SKHU/1601/1.1/060). The contractor has built a retaining wall to protect the House of Silence.
Those in charge of the project decided on a more secure retaining wall instead of the originally planned slope to support the ground wall behind the building. With the completion of the wall, the House of Silence is no longer threatened by landslides. The construction continues uninterrupted and will end in January 2021 according to plans.