Szekler gate: the largest and most complex gate of its kind in North America

An intricate wooden gate, carved by hand in a tradition passed down through generations, graces the entrance to the Hungarian Canadian Club of Waterloo-Wellington on Kossuth Road.

It was erected this summer, the vision of longtime club member Jeno Ankucza and the product of donations from generous members eager to honour the club’s 50th anniversary in 2012. “He dreamed of doing something significant for this anniversary,” said club president Tünde Volford, sitting alongside Ankucza at the hall. “It’s the start of the next 50 years.”

The massive five-tonne ornamental gate was carved out of oak, using traditional techniques that require almost no hardware. A connected fence was built out of oak and pine. The style of gate is known as a Székely gate, named for — and familiar in — a region in present-day Romania inhabited largely by Hungarian people from eastern Transylvania. Professional woodcarvers Sándor Petho and Attila Borbandi, from the Transylvanian village of Torja, came to Cambridge to oversee the project.

“They were teaching us, showing us all the old ways,” Ankucza said, adding that at least 50 people worked on the project. “The beauty of it, they were young and old and anywhere in between,” he said. It took about five weeks to carve and construct the gate, once a design was finalized. The project was funded by private donations from club members, Volford said. Ariss Fencing loaned equipment and three employees to the project. Carvings on the gate and fence include a map of old Hungary with a coat of arms held by two angels, celestial symbols like the sun, moon and stars, rosettes and tulips.