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PHOTOS: Centuries-old crypts found under a Hungarian church
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Hundreds-year-old crypts have been found under a church in Szeged. The Franciscan monks were still aware of the location of the ancient hatches. Archaeologists from the Móra Ferenc Museum in Szeged published the discovery on the archaeology department’s Facebook page.
The tombs that were hidden under the St Nicholas Parish Church in the upper town were built in the 1700s, according to archaeologists from the Móra Ferenc Museum in Szeged. In December 2022, the archaeology department of the museum had the opportunity to descend into a forgotten lower church full of crypts.
A crack in the floor
The Baroque-style parish church of St. Nicholas in the upper town of Szeged, built between 1754 and 1767, was scheduled for renovation in 2011. The lower church was permanently closed after the Great Flood of 1879, when the devastating natural disaster hit Szeged on the night of 12 March. For three months, almost the whole of Szeged was underwater, destroying almost all the buildings.
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The existence of the lower church was confirmed by a crack in the floor of the church in the 2000s. According to field surveys, 63 built-in tombs were found in the lower church, which had been closed for more than 130 years at the time, 39 of which were found to be undisturbed. Some of them showed readable inscriptions, with the earliest legible date being 1751, the latest date prior to the flood.
Photo: Facebook/MFM Régészeti Osztály
