Calvinist church in Vámosoroszi

The Reformed church was built by the Báthory family, the greatest church builders of the historical Szabolcs and Szatmár counties, in the second half of the 15th century, in late Gothic style. In medieval Hungary, the Báthorys became a significant part of economic and political life. During the reign of King Matthias, the fighting flared up between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, and the Christian hosts succeeded in one of their greatest victories. In the fall of 1479, the two hosts clashed at Kenyérmező. The Hungarian forces were led by István Báthory and Pál Kinizsi. Prior to the battle, Voivode István Báthory took an oath that in case God led the Christian Hungarian warriors to victory, he would erect two churches to the glory of the Almighty in Bátor. Following the defeat of the Turkish raiders, Báthory kept his oath, and from the spoils of the war he constructed the Reformed church of Nyírbátor. Their castle in Ecsed became one of the strongest places in the region, and their coat of arms carved into red marble above the gate of the castle of Ecsed became a real symbol. The architectural inheritance of the Báthorys is significant. Among them is the church of Vámosoroszi. The Báthory coat of arms featuring a dragon can also be seen on a keystone of the church of Vámosoroszi, which preserves the memory of the Order of the Dragon founded by Sigmund of Luxembourg in addition to the legend related to it. Furthermore, it also preserves the memory of the families belonging to the company of the Báthorys, since the dragon motif can also be observed in the coats of arms of the Kállay, the Kölcsey and the Kende families.

The corners of the church in Vámosoroszi are enforced by diagonal buttresses, which have two sections. The eastern and the southeastern corner points of the sanctuary feature three two-stage diagonal buttresses. These buttresses enforced the net vault covering the interior space, and compensated the lateral pressure of the vault. The sanctuary is covered with the original net vault, which is already more than five hundred years of age. The shoulder stones of the vault in the middle of the northern and southern walls are decorated with shields. In the northeastern and southeastern corners, instead of the shields, triangle-formed human heads created with simple unarticulated forms can be seen. In Gothic ecclesiastical architecture, the most important, and perhaps, the most challenging structure that required the most competence from the creators was the vault, more precisely the so-called ribbed vault. Its first examples already appeared around 1100, in the Romanesque period. The remaining ribbed vaults of Vámosoroszi and the other churches in the region (Eger, Sárkozújlak, Vetés) illustrate the two fundamental parts of these structures, the frame and the vault caps. The frame has static, carrying functionality. It consists of so-called ribs which were constructed of stones or bricks, and which converge into a keystone or keystones. In Vámosoroszi, the two keystones are decorated. One of them features the head of Christ, the other one the Báthory coat of arms with the dragon motif.

The vaults primarily served practical functions: they could not be damaged by fire as easily as the wooden ceilings, and in case the wooden roof structure caught fire, the vault protected the interior of the church from disaster. In addition, these structures could also feature symbolic content for the observer. In some cases, it is clear that their remaining painted motifs featuring stars refer to the intention of depicting the sky. In the 12th century, their keystones were considered to have a reference to Christ, who, according to the Bible, was chosen the keystone of the community by the Lord. Furthermore, Saint Paul is mentioned as the keystone symbolizing the Church. 

The other attraction of the church is due to the restoration of a wall painting, which was completed not too long ago. In the naive folk painting created in 1604, which is in the sanctuary behind the gallery, the story of “The Fall” can be observed. On the eastern wall of the sanctuary, a tree framed by an olive wreath with a snake climbing around it can be seen, which is surrounded by our first parents. On the right side, Eve’s, on the left side, Adam’s Fall can be seen as they reach for the apple.

It is probable that the Latin Gothic wall writings featuring quotations taken from the Bible, explored in the sanctuary and the nave, were created somewhere between the late 16th and the early 17th centuries. In accordance with the fact that the Holy Bible was placed in the center of religious life by the Reformed, instead of pictures, quotations taken from the Bible were placed on the walls of the churches. In Vámosoroszi, the church featured at least 10 such writings. They were created in different times, and perhaps, were not seen together. In 2014, during the process of restoration they were explored, and in spite of their fragmented conditions, most of them can be interpreted. Each of them was written in Latin, and this fact indicates that they were created in the early period of the Reformation. The ones created earlier are written in red, and are more impressive in appearance. It is probable that they were created at the same time as the picture of “The Fall” was, in the second half of the 16th century. The sanctuary and the triumphal arch are richly colored by the the paintings of the segments and the ribs. On the inner side of the southern starting point of the triumphal arch, a fragment of a consecration cross from the Catholic times has been found. The color scheme of the nave is enriched by the paintings around the windows in addition to the decorative painting surrounding the wall crown, which can be found on the southern and the southeastern sides of the sanctuary, above the two buttresses. 

The church overcame many adversities during its later periods. In 1662, the German garrison of Szatmár caused serious damage to it, following that, during the second Tatar invasion, it was burned down in 1717. It had no roof and it was in ruins for nearly a century. The church was reconstructed only in 1784, the ceiling of the nave was decorated with cassettes, which had to be removed due to their poor condition. Today, it is substituted by a new ceiling recalling the memory of the cassette-style ceilings. The gallery of the sanctuary was completed in 1794, and in 1806, a larger, L-shaped gallery was created, both featuring folk decorative paintings. The church’s Chair of Moses is beautiful, whose backrest consists of two large cassettes featuring floral motifs. The sound reflector of the church, which was placed above the pulpit, is very richly ornamented. The “crown” of the pulpit praises the handwork of Gábor Vasvári Ódor.

Between 1819 and 1823, on the site of the old wooden belfry, a brick-made octagonal tower was built, which is quite rare. The 36-meter tall baroque tower was originally covered with red shingles, today, it features red copper. In 1890, both the exterior and the interior of the church were remortared. At that time, the Latin writing from 1633, which was carved into the facade of the original entrance opening on the southern sidewall of the church, was still readable: “Knowing Christ well is enough to know everything. Not knowing Christ is nothing even if everything is known.”