Carei - The Calvinist Church

Following the owners, the Karolyi family, the community of the town accepted the Reform during the 16th century. Therefore, the Calvinist community used the mediaeval parish church of the town. The Károlyi family returned to Catholicism rather early, but Count Sándor Károlyi managed to give the church to the Catholics, only in 1723. In return, he built an oratorio for the Protestants, without tower on the outskirts of the town. The present church was built thirty years later, from the donations of the community. The tower was built after the Decree of Tolerance, in the period between 1793 and 1795, while the nave was extended one year later. The tower is in baroque style, and it is decorated with pillars and cornices, and it has a steeple with lantern, shaped like an onion bulb. The polygonal nave is decorated with pillars and prominent cornices, the semicircular windows have similar decorations with those on the tower. The outside of the porch and nave has decoration in plaster, made in the second half of the 20th century. On the inside, the church has similar stucco decoration. The pulpit is made in classic style and was financially supported by the Guild of Shoemakers in 1835, while the chair of the priest was made (according to the inscription on it) from donations of the Guild of Weavers, two years later. The church organ was acquired by the Guild of Tanners, an it was made in Debrecen, in 1872. The oldest of the three bells is dating from 1839, while the two recent bells were cast in 1926. Gaspar Karoli (1529–1591), the first translator of the Bible into Hungarian, was born in the city, an inscription above the southern hall, and a statue in the garden are dedicated to him. (TSz).

Bibliografie – Irodalom – References
Benedek Zoltán, A nagykárolyi Károli Gáspár református templom, Nagyvárad, 1998.