Saint Elizabeth Church in Khust

The town Khust (Ukr: Хуст, Slovak: Chust, Chech: Chust, Hungarian: Huszt, obs.: Husst) is a regional centre of the Transcarpathian region. It has been known since 1329, but became a town in 1946. It is situated on the river Tisa at the altitude of 160 meters above the sea level. The first place among the attractions of Khust should be given to the ruins of the castle, which was founded by Hungarian king Laszlo II in 1090 for the protection from attacks of the Polovcians. The second place should be given to the old Reformate temple - Saint Elizabeth Church.

It is situated in the centre of the town. The first mention about it dates from the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV century. The church got its present look only in the XV-XVI centuries. In fact, it is not simply a church, but the whole church complex. It consists of a separate belfry with three bells – a stone tower (they say it was built only in the XV century), to which a stone building of the church itself has been built up. It is surrounded by a small garden and some household buildings. The high stone fence with two gates with the shape similar to small houses (built approximately in the XVI century) and with stone arch entrances stretches around the territory. They say, the massive stone fence is here because there were times when the complex was functioning as a church-fortress. The church itself is built in the Gothic style. Arch entrances into the building and the massive buttresses are typical for this style. Especially large and massive buttresses are situated to the right from the central entrance. From 1524 till 1924 the church was a Reformate one, as it is now. On one of the inside walls the ancient fresco depicting three Hungarian kings: Laszlo I the Holy, Istvan I the Holy and Holy Emerik (son of king Istvan) is preserved. During the restoring process in 2004-2005 the frescos depicting knights in armor were found on one of the walls of the church. I might be talking now about one and the same fresco. It is very hard to check the information; nevertheless, it needs to be ordered chronographically.

Now let’s see some photo material. This is the church itself. Beautiful and majestic!



And here is a lattice gate of the main entrance to the territory. It looks like something new, the forging is not particularly seen and the seams look like welding… However, the date “1861” is available.



And this is a view from the right side of an entrance. There is not enough space. But we could see a massive buttress that I mentioned above ...



Memorial plaques, memorials, symbols, meaning a lot to the Hungarian community, are seen on the walls all around the church.



Just have a look at this "door" arch. What a classic Gothic! Needless to say, how beautiful it is.



Cosy paths around the church. The second entry into the territory is at the end of the path. Boxwood, fir-trees, flowers ... and the legacy of Soviet urban planning in the background...



Pay attention to the internal architectural solution of the house-porter, especially to the arches and lateral recess.



View from the back of the courtyard. In the foreground we see the topcoat "shingle" of the stone fence, in the middle ground we see the rooftops over of the central square, in the background - the tower of the Roman Catholic Church of the XVI century (modern look).

20.05.2010. 09:20

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