Sensational: Medieval church discovered beneath Visegrád tennis court reveals architectural masterpieces

In the spring of 2023, an unexpected discovery was made in Visegrád: the remains of the Church of the Virgin Mary, part of a medieval Franciscan monastery, were discovered under a tennis court. A collapsed crypt of the church’s sanctuary was found on the site, concealing unique late Gothic vaulting elements.

The archaeologists first used 3D scanning technology to document the excavated elements, and then began excavating them from the crypt. The resulting data allowed an authentic reconstruction of the shape of the former net vault, a milestone in the study of medieval architecture.

According to the Facebook page of the Hungarian National Museum, careful examination of the more than 100 stone elements recovered has led experts to conclude that the floor plan of the Visegrád sanctuary vault has not been completely lost. Based on medieval plans, they established that copies of the vault plans had survived in the archives of the building workshop of St Stephen’s Church in Vienna.

This unique discovery has given us the opportunity to get an accurate picture of the former state of the Visegrád sanctuary. The plans in the Vienna archives are a unique example of medieval architectural heritage, and the Visegrád remains, together with them, occupy an important place in the architectural history of Central Europe.

Identifying workers and craftsmen

The excavation of the Visegrád church has focused attention not only on the architectural elements, but also on the work of the stonemasons. On several pieces of stone, carefully engraved line drawings or carving marks were found, which identified the craftsmen. These marks were not only a guarantee of the quality of the work, but also the basis for the craftsmen’s wages. These marks are of particular importance to historians as they rarely allow the identification of specific master builders.