Kálvária hill in Bodajk is likely the resting place of our medieval ancestors’ masses. The staff of the Szent István Király Museum arrived at the scene on a report and, under the supervision of archaeologist Frigyes Szücsi, excavated the remains of at least 24 people, exclusively where the general trench disturbed the graves.
Specialists from the Szent István Király Museum and a representative of the Building and Heritage Protection Department of the District Government Office arrived in Bodajk based on a resident’s report. Connoisseurs were greeted by an unusual sight on Calvary Hill: while digging a utility trench, human bones were found along the shrine bedrock. Excavations began under the supervision of Frigyes Szücsi.
“Human remains were found unexpectedly during an investment project. They were digging a trench for an electric cable with mechanical earthworks when human bones came out of the stony ground. And it turned out at first that they were from the archaic period, so we were talking about people who died long ago.” , So we started a salvage dig.Omar was not found, yet we came to the conclusion that he is here
An extensive burial place, which could have been established sometime during the Middle Ages, at the latest in the early modern period.
We think this because, on the one hand, the deceased are placed close together, sometimes in several tiers, reminiscent of the conditions found in the tombs around the church in the Middle Ages, and on the other hand, they are all oriented west-east, with their feet towards the east, their heads towards the west and their faces facing the East. – said Frigyes Szücsi, archaeologist at the Szent István Király Museum.
The remains of at least 24 people have been excavated by museum specialists. Only in places where works related to utility trenches have disturbed the peace of the graves. The ruins of ancient Budajk are well known, and church sources describe it already functioning as a parish in the Middle Ages. When the Capuchins came to Budzhik in the 17th century, they encountered the tradition that Saint Stephen came here to pray at night. This tradition lived on here in a small community that was able to survive in the settlement after the Turkish subjugation.
Tamas Morcz, parish priest of Budajki, also said that the Capuchin sources clearly described the rebuilding of a medieval church, from which a church and a place of worship were built.
“What we found here is very special, as none of our sources have attested that Calvary Hill served as a cemetery.
We know that during the 20th century there were people who scattered ashes from here, and that this sacred place was used as a burial ground.
We are waiting for the results, because this can also strengthen us in many things. You can contribute to confirming the effects of your bodage from the perspective of church tradition. If we find here a medieval cemetery, its burial chapel, or the chapel that functioned as a sacred place and show traces of a place of worship, it becomes really clear that this place was already sacred in the eighteenth century. a century. , and even before that.” said Tamas Morcz.
The results of salvage excavations indicate a growing certainty that the Kálvária mound in Bodajk retains traces of a medieval burial place. Frigyes Szucchi, the archaeologist in charge of the salvage excavation, also elaborated.
“Not only were the churches oriented in the direction of the West and the East, so to speak, they were ‘orientated’, but also the burials follow this direction. This is a distinctive feature here too. The lack of appendages is also important, there is no dissimilarity to the things placed next to the corpses, which we later call finds Archaeological, and surprisingly, there are no items of clothing either, but in the Middle Ages and early modern times there were still burial places where this is not surprising. The sum total of this data results in our thinking:
We are standing at a medieval burial site, hundreds of burials probably still lie under our feet here, on Calvaria Hill.”
– concluded Frigyes Szocchi, adding that if the line of thought is correct, there must be at least a church or chapel on the site.
To uncover this, the National Museum staff also conducted a ground penetrating radar investigation. Máté Stibrányi, archaeologist and heritage protection specialist, his team continues the investigations, while geophysicist Zsumbor Klimbala conducted research and made measurements using ground-based radar.
These are non-destructive methods: without archaeological excavation, it is possible to uncover traces of various buildings or traces of previous human excavations underground. Surprisingly, these methods are not good for uncovering burials, but they are excellent for revealing our underground built heritage. If there really was a church on Calvary Hill, and all circumstances were favorable to this investigation, there is a good chance that it would be found in this way.
Museum video compilation of the oldest galactic farewell place and rescue fossils Click here can be seen.
