Welcome to homepage of Miskolc-Avas Reformed Congregation

Sunday services

9.00 am - in the congregation hall

10.30 am - in the Avas Church

Address

3530 Miskolc, Papszer utca (street) 14.

+36 30 730 2244

How to visit us & parking

Beyond the regular worships and programs, the church can be visited only after registration.

Individuals and groups are also welcome to visit Avasi Reformated Church!

Parking fees

cars, vans 440HUF/h

Payment at the ticket automat at the Papszer street

Our Pastors

Rev. HANGÓNÉ BIRTHA Melinda

Rev. HANGÓ István

The Brief History of the Avas Church, Bell Tower, and Cemetery, Protected as Historical Monuments

As the second church of the Miskóc clan, it was built on the Avas Hill nearly eight hundred years ago, with its first written mention dating back to 1241 in a papal tax register. Unfortunately, this likely wooden church from the Árpád era was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Hungary.

The reconstruction of this ancient church began in 1260 in the Romanesque style. A much smaller, thick-walled church compared to the current one was built on the northern side of Avas, making it the oldest building in the downtown area of Miskolc and the fifth oldest church in Hungary. However, the church, which was presumably named after Saint Stephen, did not stand for long either, as the Nogai Tatar troops, still raiding around Miskolc, set it on fire in 1285.

By 1323, the building was restored, and during the reign of King Louis I (Louis the Great), the single-nave church with a rectangular sanctuary at its eastern end was further extended westward. This is confirmed by a charter dated 1365, authenticated by the king's signature, which mentions the expansion of the "small church" on Avas Hill. During this reconstruction, a tower was also erected at the western end of the building.

Miskolc had meanwhile achieved city status, but the rebuilding of the church was not due to royal favor but to the hard work and contributions of the local citizens. The church was built with the donations of the people of Miskolc! Later, when even this church became too small for the people of Miskolc, practical and representational considerations led to a decision for a complete reconstruction. The dismantling of the 13th-century Romanesque church began in 1402. The tower remained in place, the new Gothic octagonal pillar series was set against the walls of the Romanesque church, and the side aisles were built to form the new church space. Two chapels were also added to the building on the northern exterior side during the final phase of the construction. The complete reconstruction took nearly a hundred years, at the end of which a modern three-nave, late Gothic hall church was erected on the foundations of the old churches.

According to a Latin inscription fragment found on the northern wall of the church and a donation letter from the parish church, the consecration of the fourth church took place on June 26, 1489.

The building still stands today and is a popular destination for visitors to Miskolc. This is no coincidence, as it is one of the few hall churches in Hungary built with an ambulatory around the sanctuary, which draws attention like a magnet from the banks of the Szinva stream. Architecturally and historically unique, the church dominates the Avas Hill skyline, but despite its massive structure, it blends harmoniously into the greenery of the hillside.

However, the Avas Church in Miskolc is not only of outstanding significance from an ecclesiastical or architectural perspective but also played an important role in Hungarian history. During the country's division into three parts, György Fráter summoned the representatives of thirteen counties of the region and Northern Hungary to Miskolc, where they decided that, going forward, Miskolc and this part of Hungary would belong to Royal Hungary. The partial Diet was held on December 21, 1541, in the Avas Church in Miskolc.

The next tragic event in the church's history occurred in September 1544, when the Turks set fire to the church and burned Miskolc again under the orders of Mehmet Pasha of Buda. The fire caused the tower to collapse backward onto the roof, destroying the uniquely beautiful Gothic ribbed vaults.

The destruction was so extensive that the city could not recover from the horrors of the campaign until 1550. The Turkish attack was described by the chronicler Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos in his historical ballad "The Victory at Szalka Field": “Not long ago Mehmet Pasha spoke to the Turks, To prepare themselves with great haste (…) Eight thousand strong he set out for Rákos, To rob the famous Miskolc.

He ravaged, set fire to the city of Miskolc, He plundered much of the region, From there he took four thousand captives, And with them, countless livestock.”

From 1563 to 1569, the Avas Church was rebuilt according to the needs of Reformed worship, but the path to this was arduous. The situation caused by the Turkish destruction was further worsened by the Catholic lady of the Diósgyőr estate, Borbála Fánchy, who prevented the necessary craftsmen and building materials—wood and stones—from being provided for the reconstruction, fearing the spread of Calvinist teachings. As a result, the building remained roofless for nearly two decades, and we cannot admire its former frescoes or interior furnishings.

The first Reformer to arrive in Miskolc was Dévai Bíró Mátyás, often referred to as the Hungarian Luther. As early as 1543, he preached the Word of God in Hungarian from the pulpit of the Saint Stephen Parish Church in Avas to the people of Miskolc. He was followed a year later by Presbyter Gergely, and in 1566, at the will of the city council and the congregation, the first Reformed pastor of Miskolc, Mihály Hewessi, was elected.

The people of Miskolc fully embraced Calvinist teachings and the new way of thinking by the second half of the century, leading to the establishment of the Miskolc Reformed Church in 1554, the predecessor of today's Miskolc-Avas Reformed Church Congregation and all Reformed congregations in Miskolc.

During the reconstruction following the Turkish destruction, the previous Gothic octagonal pillars were transformed into the square-based ones visible today, incorporating the original pillar stones. The semicircular arcades vaulted between them were topped by a flat wooden ceiling, replacing the former Gothic vaults. The roof structure was likely built by Dutch shipbuilders in the 1560s, and the current ceiling dates back to 1773.

One of the ornaments of Reformed churches, the richly decorated, painted ceiling panels, have not survived, having been lost over the centuries.

As a kind of replacement, in June 2020, ten panel paintings and a royal panel were installed above the Lord’s Table, based on the designs of vitéz István Bianki and the work of restorers Rozina Purnhauzer and Péter Kozma. The royal panel encompasses the entire Reformed faith and conveys in the language of imagery what every language and nation knows: "Soli Deo Gloria."

The Baroque mortuary chapel on the southern side of the church was built in 1763, and the Neo-Gothic charnel house on the northern side was added in 1817. The organ gallery under the stump tower was constructed in 1895, designed by Ottó Sztehlo, and the Neo-Gothic Angster organ was installed on this gallery.

The last major excavation and renovation work on the Avas Reformed Church lasted five years, and its reconsecration took place on May 16, 1982, during a national celebration. New preservation work began in 2019, during which the church’s shingle roof was replaced by new shingles from Transylvania by January 2020, and the roof structure was made accessible by constructing a contemporary staircase in the northwest corner.

Prior to the renovation, archaeological excavations and historical architectural research took place, enriching our knowledge with a number of new findings and data.

After the Turkish devastation, the fallen bell tower was not rebuilt in its original location but was constructed as a separate bell tower to the west of the church. The wooden gallery Renaissance-style bell tower, standing 15 meters high, was erected in 1557 and has become one of the symbols of Miskolc. The year of construction is inscribed on the medieval memorial plaque above the entrance, which reads as follows:

"IMPERANTE
DOMINO MAG. S
BAL. et. JUDICE
PAVLO GOMBOS
AEDILE
MATTHIEO
ZYGIARTO
ANNO D-ni
1557."
("The tower was built during the lordship of the honorable Zsigmond Balassa, under the jurisdiction of Judge Pál Gombos and the stewardship of Mátyás Szijgyártó, in the year of Our Lord 1557.")

The inscription was uncovered during the 1926 renovation.

The basement and ground floor of the tower are vaulted. The single-story structure is built of stone and has a high roof structure made of hewn oak wood, topped with a hexagonal pyramidal spire. Beneath the spire, the tower has an arcaded structure, and the hipped roof continues above it. There is a wooden annex on the southern side of the tower, which provides access to the entrance. The eastern side of the tower has two buttresses, while the northern and western sides have three. The Avas bell tower also served as a fire watchtower in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The tower houses two bells. The larger, 750 kg "Miklós Bell" was cast in 1923, and the smaller, 250 kg "Johanka Bell" was made in 1926. The bells, which ring during worship services, were donated by Mrs. István Újhelyi and Petra István Nemes.

In 1680, a tower clock was installed on three sides of the spire, with the year inscribed beside them, which is still visible today. From 1740 onwards, it became customary for the Avas bell tower to chime every quarter of an hour to signal the time to the citizens of Miskolc. The currently functioning clock mechanism was made by Miskolc clockmaker Zsigmond Zsitkovszky in 1941. The chime melody, created by another renowned clockmaker, Ferenc Csury, has been heard every quarter-hour since May 1, 1941, but the full melody is only played on the hour. The chime melody was made to commemorate the 50th wedding anniversary of Samu Győry Nagy and his wife, Irma Mihályfalusi Forgón.

Over time, the chime has become a signature sound of Miskolc, and the Miskolc National Theatre also uses this melody to signal the start of performances.

Another interesting fact is that since its construction, the Avas bell tower has never burned down, so part of the wooden structure still consists of the original, nearly 500-year-old beams!

The cemetery surrounding the church, which is under monument protection and covers an area of over 10,900 m², is the oldest of Miskolc's 34 burial sites. The earliest tombstones date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. The other gravestones are from the 19th and 20th centuries.

The cemetery is the resting place of several notable figures, including:

• Bertalan Szemere, Member of Parliament for Miskolc and Prime Minister of Hungary

• László Palóczy, Member of Parliament for Miskolc, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Borsod County, and senior member of the House of Representatives

• Lajos Horváth de Székudvar, Member of Parliament for Miskolc and member of the Upper House

• Kálmán Soltész Nagy, one of the most significant mayors in Miskolc’s history

• Pál Apostol, Reformed Church bishop

• József Szatmári Paksi, Reformed Church bishop

• Lajos Zsarnay, Reformed Church bishop

• Péter Pósa, Reformed pastor and dean

• József Tyukodi Császár, Reformed pastor

• Gyula Novotny, Reformed pastor

• Dr. István Mészáros, Reformed pastor, bishop, and theology professor

• Klára Bernáth, Reformed pastor

• Tibor Ábrám Sr., Reformed pastor

• Parents of Mihály Tompa, Reformed minister and poet

• József Butykai, artillery lieutenant in the 1848 Revolution

• Miklós Kun, national guard lieutenant in the 1848 Revolution and chief judge

• Miklós Oláh, national guard member in the 1956 Revolution, scout, and martyr of the revolution

• Adolf Joost, founder of the confectionery industry in Miskolc

• László Schabinszky, friend and photographer of Mihály Munkácsy

• Lajos Marjalaki Kiss, historian and teacher

• István Bay and his family

• The Latabár family

• The Diószegi family

• The Váncza family

• Edit Jeney, journalist and mathematician

The Avas cemetery is divided into smaller sections by several walkways, which also serve as starting points to the historical Avas’s centuries-old rows, cellars, and other parts of Miskolc.

From a historical perspective, it is important to note that the Avas cemetery, located above the city center of Miskolc, is the third oldest cemetery in Hungary, and burials have taken place here since the Árpád era.