Archeologists of Móra Ferenc Museum enter 300-year-old crypt under Minorite church in Szeged

Móra Ferenc Museum's Archeology Department carried out excavation works at the Szeged-Felsőváros Minorite Church, where underground crypts were found in 2011. Last year, a group of archeologists and anthropologists, accompanied by an art restorer and a surveyor could finally enter the nearly 300-year-old chamber and published their newest experiences in December on the Archeology Department's Facebook page.

“There are few things as exciting as descending into a church's forgotten underground chamber full of crypts - at least with the eyes of an archaeologist.” - begins the report.

The post recalls that the story started in 2011 when renovation works were planned for the Baroque-style Szent Miklós Plébániatemplom (Saint Nicolas Parish Church) in Szeged's Felsőváros district, built between 1754-1767.

The fact that the church once had an underground chamber - which was permanently closed after the great flood of 1879 - was proven by written sources. Franciscan monks and some members of the parish still knew about the place of the former entrances that lead below the church. The existence of the chamber was also supported by a crack in the floor of the church at the beginning of the 2000s, under which a large cavity could be guessed.

In September 2012, after a long preparation and numerous tests, the floor was broken through in the interior of the church, and a way was opened to the underground chamber, which had been closed for more than one hundred and thirty years. 63 built graves were found here, of which 39 proved to be intact. Inscriptions were visible on some of the closed crypts, the earliest readable date being 1751, while the latest dates are from just before the flood.

In 2012, the renovation works - along with further research - were canceled. The team of experts was finally able to descend into the crypt ten years later, in 2022, to begin the excavation. According to their report, the progress and results of the research will be published in a subsequent post.

Source and featured image: Móra Ferenc Museum Archeology Department Facebook page