The Gothic Protestant Church of Avas is the oldest building in the centre of the city of

Miskolc Miskolc ( , , ; Czech language, Czech and sk, Miškovec; german: Mischkolz; yi, script=Latn, Mishkoltz; ro, Mișcolț) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 (1 Jan 2014) Miskolc is the ...

in Northern

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. It was built in the 13th century as a small,

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

church, and later it was expanded to a larger

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church. In 1544, during the Ottoman occupation of Hungary the Turks set the church on fire. Because it was already a Protestant church, the Catholic owner of the Diósgyőr estate, Borbála Fánchy, didn't give her permission to use the wood from the nearby forests to rebuild the church, and it was rebuilt only more than twenty years later. The

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

of the church was built by

József Angster József Angster (7 July 1834 – 9 June 1918) was a Hungarian German organ-making master. He was the founder of the Angster dynasty, one of Central Europe's most sought after in the craft, and an important figure in Hungarian applied arts histor ...

in 1895. The acoustics of the church is very good, and concerts are held quite often. The belfry was built in 1557. The bells have played a version of the

Westminster Chimes The Westminster Quarters, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, is a melody used by a set of four quarter bells to mark each quarter-hour. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, Cambridge Quarters or Cambridge Chimes from its place of ...

every 15 minutes since 1941. Because of the noisy traffic, the chimes cannot be heard from too far away, however it is one of the best known sounds of the city. The

National Theatre of Miskolc The National Theatre of Miskolc is the main theatre of Miskolc, and the oldest theatre company of Hungary. Its current Classicist and Neo-baroque building built between 1847 and 1857, is in the city centre, in Széchenyi street and is home to not ...

signals the beginning of a play with this sound. The church is surrounded by a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

, where many famous sons of the city were buried, including the politicians

Bertalan Szemere Bertalan Szemere (27 August 1812 – 18 January 1869) was a Hungarian poet and nationalist who became the third Prime Minister of Hungary during the short period of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 when Hungary was independent of rule by the Aus ...

and

László Palóczy László Palóczy (14 October 1783 – 27 April 1861) was a Hungarian politician, who served as acting Speaker of the House of Representatives as oldest member of the lower house in 1849. He was sentenced to death after the surrender at V ...

, members of the Latabár actor dynasty, and the father of the poet

Mihály Tompa Mihály Tompa (September 28, 1819 – July 30, 1868), was a Hungarian lyric poet, Calvinist minister and corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Together with János Arany and Sándor Petőfi they formed the triumvirate of you ...

External links

The church and the belfry

on the website of

Ottó Herman Museum The Ottó Herman Museum is the largest museum in Miskolc, Hungary. It holds more than 600,000 artifacts. Its main focus is on archaeology, mineralogy, arts, history, and ethnography. History The museum was founded in 1899 under the name Borsod- ...

The church on an old postcard
(cca. 1910)
A picture of the church from 1990

Inside of the church

Aerial photographs of the church

About the church on HelloMiskolc.hu
{{Coord, 48.1013, 20.7787, type:landmark_region:HU, display=title 13th-century churches in Hungary Churches in Miskolc Gothic architecture in Hungary