Visegrad Castle lies deep in the roots of both Hungarian and Polish history, so the recent discovery of a 15th Century Church there is a story which will keep unfolding in the present as historians and archeologists learn more.

So far, we know that the church – discovered under a tennis court – was part of a Franciscan Monastery founded in the castle by Sigismund of Luxembourg, whose marriage to Mary, queen of Hungary, finalised the political separation of Hungary and Poland.

The early fifteenth century was a chaotic time for Sigismund’s kingdom, as he led campaigns in Bosnia, Transylvania and with the Teutonic Knights against King Jogaila of Poland, whose christianisation (and that of the country), was deemed insincere by interests – including the Vatican – seeking an evangelical pretext to conquer the the Polish-Lithuanian forces. 

The monastery was founded by Sigismund in 1425 for the observant Franciscans of Bosnia, to whom he donated the chapel of St. George used by his predecessors. Following this, the monastery building and the Church of the Virgin Mary were built. 

The Monastery had been known about since the 1980s, but the area lay under a tennis court and only Under the Visegrád Renaissance Development Program, started in 2021, has the excavation begun that uncovered the church. Three bodies were found in the crypt, with artefacts which suggest that they were soldiers who were killed in the defence of the castle. 

The church probably continued functioning for a century after Sigismund’s death, as Ottoman artefacts were also found nearby, suggesting that it existed until the Ottoman invasion of the Carpathian plain.

Visegrád Reneszánsza commented: “The eastern end of the church sanctuary and the remains of the main altar have been removed from the ground already in the first two days. The walls of the sanctuary enclosure with polyangular floor plan with pillars were almost demolished back to the foundation in the new era, but the 2.5 m thick foundation walls directly below the slope of the tennis court remained intact. On the third day of the exploration, the work reached the center of the church sanctuary, where a large excavation was made deep into the medieval floor, which was filled with building debris. From many roof tiles and brick debris, carved stone shop ribs began to emerge. On the fourth day, the whole pit was opened and it was revealed that in front of the main altar of the church there was a large crypt, which had been robbed after the monastery was depopulated and the roof of the collapsing building fell into the pit.”

Under the Visegrád Renaissance Development Program, Hungary intends to restore the castle complex to some of its former glory, reconstructing its ‘Tower of Solomon’ and royal complex, opening it to tourists.