Bizánc peremén: rendi hovatartozás és térelrendezés korai monasztikus építészetünkben

The presence and significance of Orthodox monasteries in the early Hungarian Christianity is unquestionable, however we know very little about their architecture. The female Orthodox monastery at Veszprémvölgy was a simple single-naved church with a rectangular presbytery, similar to the Benedictine abbey church of Pécsvárad. Another Orthodox monastery, founded by King Andrew I (1046‒1060) at Visegerád, was a three-aisled construction with a rectangular sanctuary and the aisles terminated in semicircular apses. This arrangement, also known from the monastery of Pásztó (debated if Byzantine or Benedictine), is certainly not a typical solution required by Orthodox liturgy. This type of east end is also known from Szekszárd, where a centrally planned church with similar arrangement on all four sides was excavated. This church belonged to the Benedictine monastery founded by Béla I in 1061. Although Byzantine in character, this complex architectural form is better known from Italy (Paderna, Milan). The probably Benedictine monastery church at Feldebrő has the same measurements and centrality (although with different details). Furthermore, it has a crypt which is not usual in Byzantine architecture. Its architectural decoration includes a capital with acanthus spinosa leaves (comparable to capitals of the Adriatic region from Bari to Aquileia and Zadar), and a special palmette frieze, so far only known in Hungary and in the cathedral of Lund. The common origin might be Italy again. Thus, in the early monastic architecture in Hungary the Byzantine-like elements are in fact closer to Italian prototypes – which, however, were in the same geopolitical position as Hungary: on the borderlines of Byzantium.