Baroque church in Balatonkeresztúr Traditional Cache
pdactive: There was big problems with environment of the cache.
Baroque church in Balatonkeresztúr
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The cache:
The cache is hidden next to the square, across from the church, near a pine tree, approximately 180 cm high. The size of this plastic container is 9.5x14.5x9.5 cm, please close it firmly.
I would like to invite you to a baroque church in Balatonkeresztúr.
How to get there:
Leave the bikes locked into the bike parking area at the entrance of the church.
It’s walking distance (700 mts) from the train stop of Balatonkeresztúr.
Take the Kapos Volán bus until the stop called School of Balatonkeresztúr. N 46° 41,853' E 17° 22,117' 119 m [GCBKBT+Buszmegálló]
Take Road 7 by car and turn to Újélet Street where you will be able to get into the free parking area N 46° 41,906' E 17° 22,198' 121 m [GCBKBT+parkoló].
Short description of the church:
The village and its two churches were destroyed during the Turkish combat. In 1698 the Festetics Family took over the property along with the assets. According to the church, Somogy county belonged to the bishop of Veszprem, who was in charge of giving building permits. As lord of the village, Kristóf Festetics (1696-1768) asked for permission in a letter from bishop Márton Padányi Bíró (1696-1762) on June 18th in 1753. According to his letter, this church was built on top of the walls of the old church named after the Holly Cross, which makes the base medieval.
We assert from another letter that was written on August 16 by Festetics that the church was finished, as they had previously established, by the summer of 1758. Most likely it was designed and built by Hofstatädter Kristóf (aprox. 1700-1783), an aristocratic architect, who designed most of the buildings during Festetics’s lordship between 1750-1770. According to that specific letter the sanctuary and the nave of this very church was built over the ruins of the walls from the Middle Ages. Only the west side of the nave, the tower, the vestry and the South chapel has been built as a new foundation. The church’s construction frame and its inside structure evidently points to artists with well developed and generative knowledge. The design of the lord’s baroque-rococo style sculptured pulpit and main altar was most likely Hofstädter’s work as well.
The sanctuary facing east of the passion crossed delineation of the church is closing in straight.
The western tower’s façade is two-storied, has a clock offset and a baroque headpiece. The south side has three scrolled windows. The nave and the sanctuary are divided into three spandrel altogether. The Bohemian glassed vaults and side walls are covered with rich colored, artistically valuable murals, which are accredited to one of Maulbertsch Antal’s (1724-1796) disciples, who was familiar with his work done in Sümeg.
The high altar shows the Cross “going to Heaven”, and a picture of the church is located below that. The sanctuary’s cupola has the Trinity, the middle dome has the Angelus, and the one above the balcony has a picture of angels playing baroque instruments on it. The walls of the nave are covered with a picture of the apostles (holding the means of their execution in their hands) and Saint Jacob of Nipomo. Seen in the wall of the house of worship are 3 godlike allegoric virtues, and the blazon of the Festetics Family. The master has immortalized the patronage’s family on the walls as was the period’s custom. We can see acolytes holding candles and incenses painted on the walls of the aisle leading to the vestry. The church’s two most valuable and colorful murals are on the walls of the sanctuary.
One of them illustrates Queen Saint Ilene finding Christ’s cross (326), and the one to the right delineates Emperor Heraclius getting that cross back from the Persians (678).
The church was seriously damaged in the Second World War. The picture of the high altar has been smashed at 4 different points. The Peter-Pal altar had to be re-sculpt on 18 places. The frescos were retouched between 1960-1985. Since 2002 the church has been completely remodeled on the inside (new side-altars, covering the altars with marble, new liturgical ground etc.) as well as on the outside. According to the order number 148/2008.(XI. 28.) of the assembly of Somogy county the church has been rewarded the title of “Our heirship of Somogycountry’s Treasure”.
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