Görög Örökség Ελληνική Κληρονομιά - H-ellin.com

Marriann Olbert
The three most notable churches and shrines of the
Greek Diaspora In Hungary: Eger, Miskolc and
Budapest.
The Greek traders were given the chance to erect their Orthodox churches only after the Decree of
Tolerance was issued in 1781 by Josef B'. However, although the Decree approved of the building
of the churches for non-catholic believers, there were a lot of restrictions, such as there should not
be any bell-towers or bells, and the buildings had to meet the requirements of the architecture that
prevailed in the Empire.
1. Eger: Serbian-Greek church "The transfer of the relics of Agios Nikolaos" ( Serbian
Church)and its screen.
In the 18' century, the Serbians and Greeks of Eger belonged to a common church community,
where either the Serbian or the Greek element was expressed. Between 1729-32 the Serbians and
Greeks reconstructed partly their old church and in 1753- after a hard bargain- built on top of it a
baroque bell-tower. In 1785, after the permission of Emperor Josef B' (17-19 October 1784), which
he gave after witnessing the awful state of the church, they built their new one. On 31 July 1786,
they put the cross on the bell-tower and blessed the interior though it was not yet finished. The main
motive of the screen in Eger is the grape (the bunch, the spirals and the leaves) which other than
Thanksgiving, stresses the main business activity in the city, which was winery Due to the gradual
adaption and after the vanishing or moving of the Greeks and Serbians, the Serbian Orthodox
Church(Szentendre) is operating the church as a museum.
2. Miskolc: The Hungarian Orthodox Church of the Holly Trinity and its screen.
During the 1750s, the Greek community in Miskolc maintained a chapel named after Agios Naoum.
Abraham Voy bought the land with the chapel and was renting it since 1745 to the Greeks. The
beginning of the construction of a church in Miskolc is presumed to have been in 1782. Concerning
the building of the church and the creation of the interior, the designs were drawn three times, in
1776, in 1784 and in 1785. The inscription of the foundation stone, placed on the entrance of the
church on the west side, is as follows: " This is the church of the Holly Trinity. The construction
works started in 1785 during the reign of the emperor and king of Hungary, Josef B' and was
completed in 1806 during the reign of the emperor and king of Hungary Francis B'. It was erected
with the donations given by the Macedonian-vlachoi brothers.". Thw masterpiece of the church is
considered to be the shrine of Miskolc with its 17 meters height. In 1944 the bell-tower was
damaged because of a shooting and its restoration was completed in 195 5.
3. The Hungarian Orthodox Church of Koimiseos Theotokou(the Dormition of the
Virgin)
In Budapest and its screen.
The Greeks in Budapest originally exercised their religious belief in the existing church of the
Serbians in Szerb street, since the 1Τ century. In 1783, they were given the chance to listen to the
mass in the greek language, every second Sunday. In 1788 the Greeks and Macedonian-vlachoi of
Pest decided to become separated by the Serbs and issued and official claim in the Governing
Council in order to be allowed to build a church. The foundation stone was placed in 1791 and the
building started. In 1800, Miklós jankovics completed the construction of the church. In the shrine of
the church in Petőfi square appear images of western origin which are not indicative of the iconpaintings
of the Greek sin Hungary. In 1809 the church was completed both outside and inside.. The
wealthy Greek families did not consider that the bell-towers were inappropriate and they changed
them in 1873 based of the design of Ybl Miklós. In 1931 the church community was named "By the
Greeks Established Orthodox Hungarian Community".
The reconstruction of the building after the Second world War lasted from 1946 until 1949 and then
it stopped. The exterior was renovated in 1953 and since 1972 the whole renovation of the exterior
of the building started. The south bell-tower was destroyed during bombings and the works for the
reconstruction started in 2008.
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