Bélapátfalva is a town 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 ...
, in
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, Croa ...
, located north of the city of
Eger
Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bu ...
. The town is located inside the Eger river valley at an altitude of 311 meters above sea level. Facing the town is the Bél-kő mountain which rises 811 meters and is one of the highest peaks of the Bükk mountains. Because of the picturesque landscape and notable attraction the village is on the path of the
National Blue Trail.
Romanesque church of Bélapátfalva
The town is the site of the best-preserved
Romanesque church building in Hungary, formerly part of a
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Sain ...
abbey, established by Bishop
Cletus Bél. The church was built after 1232 and later modified in
Gothic
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 ...
style. The façade is notable for its Romanesque portal and the interplay between grey and reddish stone rows. The abbey to the south of the church was destroyed in the 16th century, and only its ruins remain. The design of the chapel of the Cistercian Our Lady of Dallas in Irving, Texas, was influenced by this church, which architect Gary Cunningham visited prior in preparation for the project.
References
* Gervers-Molnár, V. (1972): A középkori Magyarország rotundái. (Rotunda in the Medieval Hungary). Akadémiai, Budapest
* Gerevich T. (1938): Magyarország románkori emlékei. (Die romanische Denkmäler Ungarns.) Egyetemi nyomda. Budapest
* Gerő, L. (1984): Magyar műemléki ABC. (Hungarian Architectural Heritage ABC.) Budapest
* Henszlmann, I. (1876): ''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
* 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.
* Dercsényi D. (1972): Románkori építészet Magyarországon. Corvina, Budapest
External links
* in Hungarian
Aerial photographs: Bélapátfalva
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belapatfalva
Populated places in Heves County
Romanesque architecture in Hungary