Environment | Siklós - Mariagyüd
Siklós
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With 10,875 inhabitants Siklós is the southernmost town of Hungary.
The
castle, its most significant historic monument, was first mentioned in
documents in 1294. Siklós is one of the most intact and homogeneous
historic
complexes in Hungary. Almost all epochs of the history of
architecture:
Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque can be seen here. The most
outstanding examples are the chapel and the closed balcony on the
southern
facade. Count Kázmér Batthyány, foreign minister of the Kossuth
Government is
buried in the chapel. The statue in the garden portrays Dorottya
Kanizsai, a
former mistress of the castle, who had the victims of the Battle of
Mohács
buried. The reconstructed Bey Malkocs djami was granted the Europa
Nostra
award in 1994. The Serbian-Orthodox church with a unique iconostas can
also
be seen. The baroque Franciscan shrine and church with its Gothic
sanctuary
is a famous place of pilgrimage. Exhibitions in the town include:
Castle
Museum, Town Gallery, Ceramics Studio, local history exhibition. There
is an
open-air bath in the town. Siklós is extremely rich in sculptures and
memorial tablets. In one of the centres of the Villány-Siklós Wine
Road
visitors are welcome to taste the excellent wines. The medieval parish
church
with the adjoining monastery stand on the south-eastern part of the
Castle
Hill. The church, originally built at the beginning of the 14th
century for
the Augustinian "surpliced canon" then rebuilt several times and
finally, after the expulsion of the Turks, it was given to the
Franciscan
order. Experts' opinion about the studied and restored frescoes is
that
"both as a whole and in the fineness of detail they are the most
exquisite group of Gothic frescoes in medieval Hungary". In the
sanctuary the red marble monument of palatine I. Miklós Garai can be
seen.
Today the monastery is a Ceramics Studio with a permanent exhibition
section.
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The history of the shrine goes back to the Roman age. The busy road connecting Sopianae and Mursa (today - Eszék) ran under the hill, and the spring there served as a place for a rest for travellers. Next to the spring a statue of Mary was erected, later the Christian Slavs placed an altar of Mary here. The village was named after Győd, who was one of the chieftains of the Hungarian tribes arriving here in the 10th century. In the 11th century a chapel was built in honour of Mary, which was rebuilt in Gothic style in the 15th century and in Baroque style in the 18th century. In 1805 Pope Pius VII. established it as an official place of pilgrimage. East of the devotional church you can find the Holy Well, the water of which was taken home by the pilgrims in the famous jugs of Gyűd. A feast is held here on every Mary's day and on the important religious holidays, i.e. 25-27 times annually. This time the church and its vicinity is visited by many people, the number of which was nearly 500,000 in the past few years. |
