Medieval Zalavár
Tracing the urban character of the Carolingian age – part 2
MúzeumCafé 8.
While the history of Carolingian Mosaburg and its changing topography can be reconstructed fairly precisely due to written sources and archaeological data (Béla Miklós Szőke: Urbis Paludarum – Mosapurc, MúzeumCafé, 2008/1), the history of Zalavár-Vársziget in the 10th century is shrouded in obscurity. Excavations suggest gradual decay and partial abandonment. Door and gargoyle stone carvings indicate that further construction of the monastery must have taken place in the early 13th century. In the area protected by walls dating from the age of Árpád, Zalavár castle with is four corner towers, church and other monastery buildings must have been constructed in the first half of the 15th century. The local abbot played a leading role in the reform of the orders at the beginning of the 16th century. A plank fence structured of wood and earth provided protection against marauding Turkish troops from the 1530s, and was completed in the middle of the century. Zalavár-Vársziget never regained its Carolingian age urban character. Villages were established on the ridges along the Zala river and stabilisation of the Árpád dynasty made it unnecessary to seek the protection of the marshes. In the Middle Ages settlement was limited to the southern part on the Vársziget. Natural protection for the monastery was again utilised only during Turkish times. The fate of the ancient building complex was sealed by an explosion in 1702, construction of the Zalaapát monastery (1777-1784) and rapid infrastructural development in Zala County during the 19th century.