Cathedral of Hajdúdorog

The South-Eastern façade

According to an old local saying, the tower of the cathedral can be seen from each street of the town. It was considered as the sign of God's presence everywhere, and it reminded everyone to their Greek Catholic faith. Today this old saying is not quite true, but the façade of the cathedral is still definitely the most characteristic part of Hajdúdorog's townscape. The Cathedral of the Presentation of Mary is 38 m (124.67 ft.) long, 21 m (68.9 ft.) wide and 48 m (157 ft.) tall.[20] The Eastern façade of the building is dominated by the semicircular apse. A 3.5 m (11.48 ft.) tall, marble cross is embedded in the outer wall of the apse. It was erected in 1906 and commemorates four religious missions related to important church events and retreats. According to the records on the cross, the first retreat was between 17 and 21 March 1906. The icon of the Theotokos of Máriapócs started to shed tears for the third times in December 1905. The retreat remembered to this mirracle. The original text on the cross says: Erected to the Memory of the Holy Mission between 17 and 21 March. 1906. (Hungarian: Emeltetett az 1906. Év Márcz. 17-21ig Megtartott Szt. Missió Emlékére).
The second retreat was in 1930 March 22–30 to join to the Saint Emeric year of the Hungarian Catholic Church. The third holy mission was held on 26 March – 3 April 1938 during the Eucharistic Congress in Budapest. The last date carved in the marble cross is 12–19 March 1944. The exact background of the retreat is unknown, but probably it was connected to World War II.

Western façade of the cathedral

The cathedral's façade on the Southern and Northern side look pretty much the same. The most characteristic part is the 15 m (49.2 ft.) long and 4 m (13 ft.) wide aisle with typical revival style ornaments and partitioning. The gabled façade reaches 17 m (55.7 ft.) height on both sides. With their robust appearance they are resembling to the Romanesque style. White pilasters frame the sides, and they are running upwards to melt into the arched frieze on the top. Originally a statue stood on the roof above each pilasters, but they were removed during the renovation works in 2000. Four crosses, made of wrought iron, are decorating now the pilasters.
The cathedral has gates both on the Southern and the northern side. They are situated in the central axis of the side façades. The cathedral has altogether 3 entrances. Beside the entrances to the aisles, there is a main gate on the western side, made of bronze. Traditionally those who are living in Hajdúdorog, enter the cathedral from their homes' direction. The gates of the aisles look exactly the same. They are framed by white pilasters topped by Doric capitals. The windows of the side naves are on three different levels. There are two arched windows on the level of the entrance. Above them, there are three more windows opening from the so-called choir galleries, and on the top of each aisle façade a rose window with 8 mullions was added.

Changing of the spire in 2000. Note that this exterior shows the old, reverse coloring of the cathedral.

The sacristy and the religious store are on the eastern part of the side naves. The flat-roofed buildings have the same width as the 19th century naves. There are two other entrances on the Northern façade of the basilica. Both of them opens to a spiral stairway. The one, built in the bell tower, leads up to the organ gallery on the West, and the other stairway goes to the Northern choir gallery. There is only one spiral stairway on the southern side of the church. It leads to the Southern choir gallery. Looking to the side façades of the cathedral there are still two plaques worth to mention. The plaque on the northern side of the tower commemorates the 1869 restoration and extension works: "Renovated by the community of Hajdu Dorogh to the glory of Our Lord in 1869". The Southern façade holds a marble plaque about the 1937 renovations: "Outer renovation was made in the 1937th year of the Lord to commemorate the 34th Eucharistic Congress. The ornaments of the gates were added in the same year from the donations of the widow lady Kömmerling. The work was done by jr. János Simon, certified stonemason."

The Western façade is the most typical part of the cathedral. It is dominated by the 48 m (157.6 ft.) tall church steeple, which reaches the 50 m (164 ft.) height if we count the Greek Catholic cross on the top. Two belt courses divide the tower into three different parts. The lowest bit is 12 m (39.4 ft.) tall, and just like the main entrance, it is decorated with Doric pilasters. The middle part of the tower is 5 m (16.4 ft.) tall. It has white frames, and its primary function is to connect the main nave and its roof to the bell tower. The tower's top section is 12.5 m (41 ft.) tall. It has two windows, and it is decorated with two pilasters with Corinthian capitals. The three parts of the tower together is 29.5 m (96.8 ft.) tall. This adds up the height of the bell tower, the brick structure of the steeple.

The steeple functions also as a clock tower. It has a 2.5 m (8.2 ft.) diameter clock face on the four sides, right under the steeple's belfry part. During the 2000 renovations the clock stopped working. It was only in 2010 when the old, shabby clock work was changed to a new digital engine. The old clock work is still in its original wooden case in the belfry.[29]

The Zopf style spire of the tower was fully renovated in 2000. The wooden structure and also the copper covering was entirely replaced. The lower part of the copper structure is the 11 m (36 ft.) tall belfry. This section houses the bells of the cathedral, and it is enclosed by louvers made of copper. The belfry is topped by the eight columns of the lantern. The 2.5 m (8 ft.) tall columns determine the shape of the highest section of the steeple, the octagonal spire of the cathedral. On the top of the spire there is a 1 m diameter copper globe that works as a time capsule too. This globe holds the original list of the pilgrims to Rome in 1900, the names of the pilgrims who followed their ancestors on bikes one century later, and the list of town dwellers who donated for the renovation works of the cathedral. The globe is situated 48 m (157 ft.) high above the town, and it is holding a 2 m tall Greek Catholic cross.[20]

In the Byzantine rite the altar has a broader meaning. It does not only refer to the altar table, but the area surrounding it. In the Cathedral of Hajdúdorog the altar includes the sanctuary, the sacred place behind the iconostasis. The altar is the most important part of the church. It is situated on the eastern part of the building based on the traditions. The sanctuary is 7 m (23 ft.) wide and almost 10 m (33 ft.) tall. Its Eastern wall follows the semi-circular shape of the apse. On the western side the sanctuary is closed by the iconostasis. The entire floor of the altar has a 10 cm (4 inches) elevation compared to the level of the main nave. The elevation required a step between the sanctuary and the nave. This 10 cm red marble step can be found in front of the iconostasis, and its area is called soleas. There are three doors in the iconostasis that connect the altar and the main nave. These ornamented doors are only opened during holy service. There is another direct entrance to the altar from the sacristy, where the vestments and other sacred vessels are kept. Three large arched windows let the sun light to the sanctuary. One of them is in the apse, just in front of the altar table. The other two windows are on the Northern and Southern walls.

Agnus Dei secco in the sanctuary

The sanctuary has seven rather valuable seccos on its walls. The paintings were created by György Révész during the 1868 renovations, when the church was re-shaped in a Romantic style. One oval shaped mural can be found below and above each window, depicting scenes from the Old Testament. The sanctuary's seventh secco is the triangle shaped Eye of Providence painting which can't be seen from the altar. The only place where the secco is visible, is the organ gallery on the western side of the cathedral. The reason is that the Eye of Providence secco was painted to a wall surface high above the ground level of the altar, and it is parallel to the iconostasis, thus unseen from the sanctuary. The topic and the composition of the three upper seccos appear also on the Royal Doors of the iconostasis: The scene of Cain murders Abel is above the Northern window, the Noah's sacrifice secco is above the Southern window, and the Binding of Isaac scene was painted on the upper part of the apse. The seccos below the windows talk about stories from the Old Testament too, but instead of the upper sacrifice related murals, these are connected to divine prophecies. Below the Northern window, and above the entrance from the sacristy, is the mural of the Promised Land. It shows the land of Canaan, God's reward to Abraham and his descendants if they keep their faith. The lower secco of the Southern wall is called Brass Serpent, and it tells us the story of Moses who mounted a serpent of brass on a pole to cure the Israelites from the bite of the snakes. Later this story was explained in the Gospel of John as a reference to Jesus.[30]

The secco of the Brass Serpent

The secco of the Agnus Dei was painted on the apse, to the most emphasized place, in front of the altar table. The lamb, symbolizing Jesus, is reposing on the Book of the Seven Seals known from the Book of Revelation. The priests, standing and praying at the altar table, are facing this mural. The lamb symbolizes the good shepherd, which is the duty of the priests; and it refers to the revelation too, reminding the priests to the importance of the strong faith.[12]

The side altar with Révész' Rembrandt replica, the Descent from the Cross

The central element of the sanctuary is the altar table with its carved baldachin.[31] The parish hired Miklós Jankovits to make the original altar table in 1799. He finished all the carving works for the church within 2 years.[15] This original structure was altered several times during the last 200 years. Today only the upper part of the baldachin remained from the original 18th-century altar table. Based on the report of the restorers, the original Jankovits altar probably had a much wider table, and the canopy was a bit shorter than it is today. The priest simply didn't have enough place in the sanctuary: the altar table was too large to walk around it. This problem resulted the first change of the altar in 1870.[32] The carved foundations of the baldachin's columns were removed, and they were replaced by taller, but really simple, cuboid parts. To provide enough space for the priests, a new, smaller altar table was erected under the baldachin. The table was also turned around with its longer side parallel to the iconostasis. The result of this rearrangement was that the baldachin didn't really fit to the table itself, it was wider than needed. The parish solved this problem by the shortening of the volutes of the upper part of the baldachin. Small parts were sawed and removed from the arched top of the canopy. The re-tailored baldachin was now tall enough to let the altar table being elevated by some steps.[33] The tabernacle of today's altar table was made originally for this smaller, second table. In 1872, by the end of the renovations, Révész' painting, the Last Supper was displayed on the main altar.

The main altar, its baldachin and the tabernacle

The main altar's major changes in the 18th century were followed by other smaller alterations in 1937. The cathedral was renovated and repainted for the Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, and since the work was paid and initiated by the Roman Catholic Church, the Latin motifs overwrote several Byzantine marks of the cathedral. The Last Supper was replaced by the Coronation of the Holy Virgin, a typical Latin scene, on the main altar. Two small wings were attached to the tabernacle, and the entire altar was repainted in white.

After the Second World War, during the years of the communist regime the church didn't have the funds or the support for any renovation works. The low quality 1937 restoration remained till the fall of the communism. During the long years the main altar got in a rather neglected shape. The truncated baldachin slowly fell to pieces. Its structure had to be supported by two iron rods to prevent from collapsing.
The main altar and the baldachin was fully restored in 2005. The major goal of the restorers was to re-create the 18th century Jankovits altar as much as possible. The original coloring of the altar was explored and restored again. The volutes of the baldachin gained back their original size, thus changing the width of the whole canopy. Györgyi Károlyi, the restorer of the main altar, studied other works of Jankovits (Serb Orthodox Church in Eger; Orthodox Church on Petőfi Square, Budapest and the Orthodox Church in Miskolc) to replace the missing parts of the altar. Károlyi had to create a new altar table and she had to replace the lower parts of the baldachin too. Today her altar is standing in the sanctuary of the cathedral. The altar table was made of oak, and it resembles to a robust marble table. Neither of the previous altar paintings got replaced to the table, only the tabernacle was restored. The foundations of the baldachin's columns were replaced along the guidelines of a committee of the Hungarian Institute of National Cultural Heritage. The committee chose a baldachin leg ending in animal claws, based on the analogy studies on Jankovits' other works. The new foundation and the old canopy was connected by long iron spines in the middle.[34]

The side altar, also known as prothesis, is traditionally situated on the northern part of the sanctuary in the Byzantine rite churches. Priests prepare the bread and the wine on this smaller altar table for the holy liturgy. In the Cathedral of Hajdúdorog the prothesis was part of the original, early 19th century furniture made by Miklós Jankovits. It didn't go through major changes, like the main altar did. The parts above the altar table are original carvings.[32] The table itself was changed probably in the 1870s. The arched volutes on the top of the prothesis are part of the original, Baroque structure. Two Corinthian columns hold the top structure of the prothesis, and they frame the painting of the side altar. The Descent from the Cross was painted by György Révész, approximately in 1870. He copied the composition of Rembrandt's 1634 master piece. The prothesis is ornated with typical Jankovits motifs. The gilded festoons, rose heads and acanthus leaves appear on the iconostasis and on other furniture too. The prothesis was over-painted with white oil paint during the Latinizing 1937 renovations. It was restored in 2005.[33]

The iconostasis of the cathedral

The iconostasis is undoubtedly the most characteristic part of an Eastern Catholic church interior. The wall of icons is traditionally erected between the altar and the nave. The iconostasis of the Cathedral of Hajdúdorog is the largest Greek Catholic wall in Hungary. It is 11 m (36 ft.) tall and 7 m (23 ft.) wide, holding 54 icons on five tiers.[35]

Hajdúdorog had the largest number of Greek Catholic inhabitants in the beginning of the 19th century in the Eparchy of Munkács, and by far the largest number of Hungarian speaking Greek Catholics.[36] The parish, with the support of the town, decided to hire the most notable iconostase-carver master in the country to express this favored rank. Miklós Jankovits was hired by the Greek Catholic parish of Hajdúdorog in 1799 to carve the wooden framework, including the doors and the icon frames of the iconostasis. Mátyás Hittner and János Szűts could only start the painting and gilding works in 1808. The last icon was completed in 1816.[35]

The icon of Michael Archangel on the Northern door of the iconostasis

The icons were painted clearly in Western style, quite unusual in Eastern rite churches. Instead of the traditional Byzantine iconographic depiction, the painters used the deep, rich colors, the intense light and dark shadows, and the eventful and realistic portrayal of late Baroque painting. The exact reason for turning towards the Western style is still disputed. However, Greek Catholicism by nature is closer to the Latin Rite, especially in 19th-century Hungary, where most of the population was Roman Catholic. Thus Western art and probably the Catholic rulers of the country, the Habsburgs, influenced the painters and the parish too.[37]

While the structure of the iconostasis is based on Slavic tradition, it also displays a number of differences. Given Hungary's Roman Catholic majority, the artists who decorated Eastern rite churches usually either copied the style of a church in an Orthodox country or came from an Orthodox country themselves. Jankovits had Greek ancestors, but his icon screens were considered the only works with a style typical of Hungary. He combined several different styles. Rich, gilded ornaments, Zopf shapes of rose heads, tulips and Acanthus leaves characterize his work. Jankovits usually carved figures of animals on the top of the Royal Doors, clearly marking his style. In Hajdúdorog he added two ravens.[32]
Another important difference is that the icons do not start from the floor level. Altarpieces, that were not part of the original structure, stand between the holy doors instead. And the lifelike portraits typical of Western style are seldom found on Eastern icon screens.[32]

The iconostasis frames were slightly altered before the icons were completed. A local craftsman probably added the altarpieces between the doors. The icon screen underwent four renovations. The first affected only the so-called "Sovereign tier" in 1868.[32] A few years later, in the 1870s the entire work was renovated by György Révész and his team. In the years preceding the 1938 34th Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, the Catholic Church undertook renovation work in churches throughout the country. In 1937 the iconostasis of Hajdúdorog was re-painted in a rather low artistic quality. Györgyi Károlyi and Csongor Bedő completed the latest renovation in 2002, restoring the original colors and compositions as far as they possibly could.[32]