Szadvar castle project and youth camp, Hungary

Thanks to contributions from our donors, members and grants the effort to save the ruins of Szadvar Castle continue in 2010. As usual in March, dozens of Szadvar supporters marched up the snow covered hilltop to prepare the grounds for the works scheduled for July-August. Association members worked for 3 days, tirelessly removing vegetation, collecting stones while enjoying the challange and the company of friends not seen for a while.

In July the walls of the gothic palace would be conserved and renovated, while in August a section of the northern wall is to be unearthed and conserved. The urgency of works around the palace wall is underscored by the fact that during the winter another section of the two-storey wall collapsed due to the weather. Thanks to the survey executed in 2009 the previous of state of the building is recorded and can be restored.

The March efforts were not spectacular but they were absolutely necessary to keep the castle grounds clean and transparent.

In addition to the castle saving efforts the association is also committed to the education of children about the importance of saving historical heritage and to foster international collaboration. As a result in August 2009 we organized the first medieval summer camp for children from Hungary and Slovakia. In 2010 we would like to extend the international reach to at least three countries and include polish children as well.

The summer camp does not only teach them about medieval history, archeolgy but also gives an opportunity to the children to interact with others from a different cultural background.

Visit the following page for pictures: http://www.szadvar.hu/2010/03/beszamolo-a-viii-varmento-napokrol/#more-1721

Why Szadvar?

(A personal note from our last activity.)

I am completely biased to answer this question. I could say just because but then I would lose the exciting details of being part of this great initiative.

I arrived Thursday night to the usual accomodation and spent the next few hours with old (castle) friends.

Next morning by the time we climbed up to the fog covered castle the rain has stopped and we formed smaller teams to execute on the tasks that were lying ahead. Our work was not as spectacular as in the summer but was needed to keep the castle and the surroundings neat.

Some people cut the vegetation, others collected stone for the works planned for next summer while others continued the conservation work on the outer walls.

I was glad to get back to the village have dinner and head to bed to recharge the batteries for the following day. As usual going to bed early was not an option. As we were getting ready to call it the day relief forces signalled their arrival, several people from the distant Csobanc castle (150 miles away) arrived to take part in the effort. Instead of going to sleep we again spent hours to catch up with the newcomers.

Next day beautiful weather waited for us and several new people joined in as well, some from as far as 300 miles from Slovakia. Thanks to the good weather we could enjoy the spectacular panorama of the Aggtelek National Park.

The 7th Save the Castle day ended in a local restaurant where everyone joined in for some singing and dancing.

So why Szadvar? That is why! Because of the 2 days of hard work, of being together for a common goal, to help a local community.

Our activities are covered from donation from all around the world. We would like to thank our donors for making our work possible!

Plans for next year:

- 8th Save the castle day around March 15th to prepare the grounds for the summer works - Archeology camp for students in June - Conservation work on the 15th century gothic palace

We would also love you to join any of these efforts. Please contact us for details if you want to have a medieval experience.