Haraszt

Haraszt (Chrasť nad Hornádom) is a village in Slovakia, the tower of its fortified church has an interesting feature, it is surrounded by a four-centered rotunda structure. There is only one other church of this type known in the Carpathian Basin, Guraszáda in Transylvania. This is the reason why the church is mentioned in the literature about rotundas in medieval Hungary. Location: https://tinyurl.com/3zk4tu8z

The date of construction of the originally four-centered Church of the Holy Trinity in Harasz is uncertain, and researchers have proposed several theories. Chalupecký considers it to be a legacy of the Moravian Principality (* this is not confirmed by the wall research), Slivka says it was built in the 11th century on an ancient Slavic pagan cult site, Mencl considers it to be an early Gothic manor church built at the beginning of the 14th century. Gervers-Molnár and Kozák date it to the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, and Pomfyová to the first half of the 13th century.

The four-centered rotundas appear in Central Europe only in the second half of the 11th century (Sázava around 1070, Zawichost around 1100), in Hungary probably only in the middle of the 12th century, and the main examples (Ják, Pápoc, Bercse) point rather to the 13th century.

The historical data of the settlement can bring us closer to the time of its construction. The village of Harast (“Horost”) was mentioned in a document issued by Queen Elizabeth in 1280, but there was no record of a settlement. In 1302 Miklós, son of Leuk, asked Paul, the provost of Szepes, to grant him the ownership of the property and to confirm the document with his seal and that of his brothers.

Thus he confirmed the privileged document issued on May 7, 1298, by J (Jakab), the former provost of Szepes, based on the veneration of the apostles Philip and James and the fact that the parish of the chapel was still poor. Some scholars have attributed this charter to Harast, and this is the origin of the construction date of 1302, which can be found in many places.

Gevers-Molnár Vera wrote about the church:

“At the end of the 12th century, but at the latest in the 13th century, another type of church with a shamrock-shaped plan appeared in Hungary. The only monument of this type was built in Haraszt (Hrast nad Hornadom, Czechoslovakia) in the county of Szepes. This church is very similar in plan to the Transdanubian and Transylvanian monuments discussed above, but it is quite different in construction. Its rectangular central part rises like a powerful tower, with four sides each joined by a low semicircular aisle.

This building form has its origins in Otto-period Western European models, but it probably came to the Hungarian Highlands from neighboring Bohemia. There, in Blatna, Prague (Jana church), and Resnovic, churches of similar construction were built in the 12th century. The church of Haraszt may be the most eastern example of this group, and this form never became general in Hungary.”

As the settlement is located near the Gömör-Szepesi ore mountain range, it seems likely that in the Middle Ages, its inhabitants were mainly miners. In the 14th and 15th centuries, they worked in the nearby mines. From the 15th century onwards, its owners, the Máriássy and Márkus families, extended mining to other areas of the mountain range.

The four-centered rotunda was 10.6 meters long on the north-south line, and the interior space to which the apse was added was about 4×4 meters. The diameter of the apse was about 4 metres and the thickness of the walls was 1.2 metres. The aisles are not symmetrically connected to the square central space but are slightly off-center to the left. In the second half of the 13th century, the height of the tower was increased by about 2.4 meters, but brick was used. The raised part has twin windows with pointed arches.

The church was extended with a nave in 1646 when the fourth nave was added. In 1694 the church was rebuilt. In 1748 the church was struck by lightning and had to be rebuilt between 1749-55. In 1903 Divald Kornél surveyed the church. In it, he reports on two layers of wall paintings, of which the Resurrection scene can be seen in the northeast corner and consecration crosses. A 13th-century gravestone near the church was found, but no older burials have been discovered near the church.

The possibility that the church, which originally had four chapels, was dedicated to St. Margaret is suggested by wall paintings depicting the legend of St. Margaret in the church. The Holy Trinity was often chosen as the patron saint of churches built or rebuilt after the Ottoman period.

In 1801 the majority of its 351 inhabitants were already Catholic Slovaks. In 1828 its 56 houses were inhabited by 410 people, mainly engaged in agriculture and basket weaving. Mining continued until it ceased in 1848.

The Castle of Haraszt

According to the recent discovery of Dr. Dénes József, a new object was detected on the southern border of Haraszt near the Hernád River. The oval terrace (filled ditch) on the hilltop suggests a medieval fortress. The oval feature measures 28 x 20 m. The useful protected area may have been even smaller. As usual, this could be the site of a single tower.

Based on its size, shape, and location, it may also be of Árpád period. Unfortunately, we only have data from the 15th century about the owners of the settlement, the Haraszti Pócs family. Perhaps it belonged to their ancestors. Like most of the castles belonging to the landlords of the 12th-13th centuries, this one is not documented either.
They were generally abandoned during the period of the oligarchy period (1272-1323) and the beginning of the Angevin period.

Source: https://varlexikon.hu/haraszt-templom , https://djnaploja.wordpress.com/2022/09/02/a-szepesi-haraszt/ , and the Hungarian Wikipedia

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Here are some pictures of Haraszt: