Tarnaszentmária is a village at the foot of the

Mátra The Mátra ( sk, Matra) is a mountain range in northern Hungary, between the towns Gyöngyös and Eger. The country's highest peak, Kékestető (1014 m), belongs to this mountain range. The Mátra is part of the North Hungarian Mountains ...

Mountains in

Heves County Heves county ( hu, Heves megye, ) lies in northern Hungary, between the right bank of the river Tisza and the Mátra and Bükk mountains. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Pest, Nógrád, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Jász-Nagykun-S ...

, Hungary.

Sightseeing

In Tarnaszentmária, one of the oldest Hungarian churches can be found. It was founded by the Genus Aba, who were related to the

Árpád Árpád (; 845 – 907) was the head of the confederation of the Magyar tribes at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He might have been either the sacred ruler or ''kende'' of the Hungarians, or their military leader or '' gy ...

house kings.

Samuel Aba Samuel Aba ( hu, Aba Sámuel; before 990 or 1009 – 5 July 1044) reigned as King of Hungary between 1041 and 1044. He was born to a prominent family with extensive domains in the region of the Mátra Hills. Based on reports in the ''Gesta H ...

of Hungary was the husband of the sister of

Stephen I of Hungary Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen ( hu, Szent István király ; la, Sanctus Stephanus; sk, Štefan I. or Štefan Veľký; 975 – 15 August 1038), was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the f ...

. The old church has a central

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and eastern

apsis An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ellip ...

, however, the eastern apsis has two floors. In the lower floor a

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...

was found in the 19th century.

References

Bibliography

* Csemegi J.: ''A tarnaszentmáriai templom hajójának stíluskritikai vizsgálata'' (The stylecritical study of the Tarnaszentmária Church), Antiquitas Hungarica III, 1949, p. 92-107. * Kozák K. - M. Anda J.: ''Tarnaszentmária. Római katolikus templom (Tájak-Korok-Múzeumok Kiskönyvtára 321)'', Budapest, 1988, TKM Egyesület * Mencl, Václav: ''Két ősi építészeti emlék Magyarországon.'' (Two old archaeo architectural heritage in Hungary), Művészettörténeti Értesítő VIII, 1959, page 217-220. * Sápi, Lajos: ''A tarnaszentmáriai templom. (The Tarnaszentmária Church)'', Műemlékvédelem, XXIV, 1980, page 107-117. * Gerevich T.: ''Magyarország románkori emlékei (Die romanischen Denkmäler Ungarns)'', Egyetemi nyomda, Budapest, 1939 * Szőnyi O. (É.n.): ''Régi magyar templomok. Alte Ungarische Kirchen. Anciennes églises Hongroises.'' Hungarian Churches of Yore. A Műemlékek Országos Bizottsága. Mirályi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, Budapest * Henszlmann, I.: ''Magyarország ó-keresztyén, román és átmeneti stylü mű-emlékeinek rövid ismertetése'', (Old-Christian, Romanesque and Transitional Style Architecture in Hungary). Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, Budapest, 1876 * Genthon I.: Magyarország műemlékei. (Architectural Heritage of Hungary). Budapest, 1959 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarnaszentmaria Romanesque architecture in Hungary Populated places in Heves County