Fejezetek: Előszó 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Kronológia Képek Zusammenfassung RÉSUMÉ Compendio Villa Gerechen

RÉSUMÉ

Görcsöny and it's surroundings have been known as settled places for as long as mankind can remember. The oldest traces of a settlement being here date back to the 5th century BC. After the Celtics and later Romans came the Huns, Eastern Goths, Lombards and Avars each succeeding each other in this area until the Magyar conquest when the area became settled by Hungarians.
Its church has been in existence for a thousand years and was noted as a place of pilgrimage since 1345 when Pope Kelemen 6th mentions it in a letter that was dated in September of that year. One of the nicest legends regarding the village is in connection with Sigismund of Luxembourg. The later to be Holy Roman Emperor, Czech and Hungarian king was forced into asylum in the nearby Siklós Castle, after this, he spent some time in the village. However, we know also of another unproven myth which states that another Hungarian ruler King Matthias also visited the village nearly 500 years ago.
Görcsöny - which is of southern Slav origin, meaning ,,hill dwellers" - has changed its name a number of times over the centuries. The Villa Gerechen type of writing (which is what the title of the volume is all about) first appeared in 1352 and we know that it was still in use in 1511.
The area has had numerous owners as we can see from what has been written down, from the treasury to the Dominican and Jesuit orders there have also been some quite dissimilar owners. Some say that in the middle ages the village was given the rank of market-town, however, it is possible that this happened due to a mix up with a similar name in the general consciousness of historians. It is certain, however, that during the time of the Turkish occupation it was given the title of town and that during the first half of the 19th Century the Hungarian King Ferdinand the 5th gave the village the rank of market town.
The ancient, church of Görcsöny was destroyed after the Turkish occupation. Oddly enough it wasn"t the occupying army, but the liberating mercenary troops that ravaged it, devastating just about everything of value in the village: they did not look too kindly at the fact that the area housed a Turkish military quarters. The building was, nevertheless, restored by the Jesuits, but with the disbandment of the order the church was left to ruin. In 1805 they had to start building a new church. The building, which is a historical monument, was completed in 1812 and is still standing today. Its most important art treasures are: the holy-water basin, which is one of the most beautiful examples of Turkish remains in Hungary (it was once used as a sink); the three hundred years old Saint Peter and Paul statues (which were brought here when the Basilica of Pécs was being restored a hundred years ago); István Dorfmeisters painting of Jesus being taken from the cross as well as a copy of the Maria painting which is regarded as being holy in Re in Italy.
The palace that stands today is located where the house of the Jesuit order once stood, the lords of the village rebuilt it a number of times. The greatest changes occurred when Franz Joseph the 1st came to visit in 1901. The emperor and the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand, who was later to be killed in Sarajevo, were in the area on the occasion of a military exercise. The building is now an old peoples home. The foundations of the park is also thanks to the Jesuits, however, the artificial lake was established in 1966.
The village received its present image after the Second World War which claimed significant casualties and destruction. The school has just turned 40 years old a few years ago, the Pelican housing estate, the bank, the post office and the community centre building were built in the 1970"s. The village is now also richer due to the new energy source, gas.
In creating this volume all possible written accounts, exerts from the village and church chronicles, archives and museum data were used. The pictures mostly show how the village appears today, however, there are images of the village in times gone by. The cover is decorated by the works of Győző Somogyi, who is perhaps the most popular living graphic artist in Hungary.