Acâş - The Calvinist Church

The towers of the monumental church of AcâÅŸ are visible from a great distance. The village is situated at the confluence between the hills of Sălaj and the Western Lowland, on the bank of the River Crasna. The geographical position of the settlement favored its economic development; therefore, the village became a market-town in the Middle Ages. AcâÅŸ was the centre of the domain of the Ákos kindred. The kindred founded the monastery already in the second half of the 12th century. The monastery provided first of all a common burial place for the members of the family, and also it expressed the wealth and social status. Early data on the functioning of the monastery are missing, but the village is mentioned in 1342 as “Ákosmonostora” (the monastery of Ákos). Another document of 1421 offers information on patronage right over the monastery, dedicated to the Holy Virgin. Starting from the 12th century, the members of the kindred made great careers, therefore, they added new domains to the family wealth and they founded new monasteries on other sites. The richer families of Ákos kindred became extinct in the 15th century, when the monastery also falls into decline and becomes a parish church. The last descendents of the Ákos kindred disappear from the village in the 16th century. In the same period, similar to other settlements in the area, the inhabitants become Calvinists. The first priest is mentioned in 1597. The present church was built in the 12th century. According the rules of the Romanesque style, the building is a triple-aisled basilica oriented east west. A semicircular apse closes the main sanctuary. The other two vaulted naves are rectangular from outside, with a niche from inside. The two western towers are provided with a gallery on the first floor. On the upper side of the vaulted sanctuaries, two oratories are built with an arch opened to the main altar. These parts suggest that, previously, the church was projected with two towers on the eastern side. The decoration of the church is simple. On the upper levels of the tower, the façade is framed by lesenas and a row of blind-arches. The windows are opening at the middle of these frames. On the lower levels the windows are simple niches, while on the upper levels they are twin-windows with rounded end. The middle of the twin windows is a column with a cubic capital. From these fields open the narrow windows of the lower levels and the geminate windows of the upper levels. The façade of the sanctuary is delimited by two lesenas and closed on the upper side by a row of arched window. On the middle a round-window is opened, with two semicircular windows on each side. The wall of the nave is simple, except the upper part of the main nave, where the cornice is made by a row of blind-arches. The windows are opened on the wall of the southern nave and on the upper part of the main nave. Three doors were used to enter the church, but only the southern and the western ones are used today, the northern one was walled up during the Middle Ages. The semicircular stone doorframes are kept on the northern and southern side. The latter one is the most decorated, with three segments, and a semicircular profile. On the upper part a simple semicircular tympanum was made. On the northeastern side of the church a chapel was built with a semicircular sanctuary. The chapel was destroyed before the Reformation. The Ottoman and Tatar raids affected several times the church, while the fire in 1642 destroyed the roof. According to the local tradition, the divine service was made under the tower until 1732, when the new roof was made. A lightning stroked the tower in 1747, therefore, the steeple was renewed. The earthquake of 1834 made more important damages, the complete reparation being made only at the beginning of the 20th century. These renovations were made in two parts, being conducted by Frigyes Schulek. The exterior was left without plaster, remembering the techniques of the Romanic period. The old spherical steeples of the tower were changed to pyramidal roofs made of brick. The upper part of the western façade and the porch was built in the same time. In the interior, the sanctuary was vaulted again, and a new triumphal arch was built with three windows. Overall, the restoration was of good quality and contributed to the preservation of the architectural values. The water filtered in the walls damaged the church in the last decades. A canalization was made in order to prevent more infiltration, therefore, an archeological research was made around the church. On the exterior the surrounding graveyard and the foundations of the chapel were revealed, while in the interior traces of the transformations in the sanctuary were detected. It is worth to mention the furnishing of the church made during the 18th century and decorated with painted floral motifs. The organ was made at the beginning of the 20th century and it was recently renovated. The older of the two bells was made in 1742, while the other one in 1924. (SzP).

References:
Bogyay Tamás, „Az ákosi református templom”, Magyar ÉpítÅ‘művészet, 43 (1944), p. 67–70.
Kiss Imola – Tóth Géza-Ivor, Ákos. Református templom, Kolozsvár, 1996. Erdélyi Műemlékek 18.
Péter-Levente SzÅ‘cs, „The Abbey Church of Ákos: An Architectural and Functional Analysis of a ‘Kindred Monastery’ Church”, Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU, 9 (2003), p. 155–180.