Szadvar castle project and youth camp, Hungary

The First 10 years

Ten years, twenty-one “Save the Castle Days” events, nine archaeological sessions and uncountable memories. This is the ten years’ summary of Friends of Szadvar. This report evaluates our latest, jubilee event which was held early in October as usual in Szogliget beneath Szadvar Castle.

Before we started our anniversary commemorations we had a meeting with the director of Herman Otto Museum at Miskolc. We both asserted and declared in an agreement that we would like   to maintain the cooperation in connection with the work for Szadvar.

Drawing Competition

The program started on 7^th October with the announcement of the winners of the drawing competition which was initiated by Friends of Szadvar for the local elementary school students. The most talented children happily received the prizes which were books, pendrives and mock-ups. The school organised an exhibition with the best paintings as well.

Time Capsule and Work

Later in the afternoon we went up to the castle to place a time capsule. We put the following into the time capsule: a letter to the future finder, a coin from this year, a brochure about our Association, and of course a daily newspaper. The time capsule was inserted into the wall of the inner part of the castle. After this uplifting moment of course we worked hard too. The weed was   large enough, so we cleaned up three parts of the castle. We cut bushes and grasses at the inner part of the palace, the south part of the walls and at Csonka Bastion on Friday and also on Saturday. At this time some public workers also joined us to help.

Next Generation

Our group was complemented with high school students from a very far city. The pupils from Hild Jozsef Grammar School in Gyor are one of the best hope of the rejuvenation of the Association. Seven enthusiastic young students and their leaders – in spite of the long journey and the cold weather – they participated in all the programmes. They carried a drone and took some beautiful photos above the monument. They also made some measurements and survey for a study about it. Some teenagers said they want to come back to the castle for the summer archaeological week.

Jubilee Assembly

Saturday night was the highlight of the weekend. We held a jubilee assembly where our old members, our partners and the people from the village were invited. The local    council awarded the Friends of Szadvar with a medal for the long and hard work.

The chairman of the Association held a presentation about the ten years targets and results and the secretary showed a video composition with the most unforgettable moments. After that we cut the delicious cake and we listened to folk-songs from Szogliget’s women consort called Pávakör  .

Summary

At the end of the day we summed up not just the weekend but the excellent ten years, too. Our group has contributed to saving an almost forgotten medieval castle. We haven’t even finished the meeting but we already started to pursue our next goal. The 450th anniversary of the only known single siege is going to be in January next year. We are planning   some special features on this occasion on our next event in March to remember our heroes and talk about the unfortunate devastation and despair of our beloved castle.