Sajóhídvég, Kesznyéten, Mátramindszent

Architect: Ágnes Kovács
Text: Miklós Sulyok
Photos: István Zoltán Kovács, Miklós Sulyok

Szent Erzsébet képolna és Cigány Missziós Központ, Kesznyéten

Ágnes Kovács has designed three chapels in the past eight years in the North-East of Hungary: St Jacob’s in Sajóhídvég; St Elizabeth’s Chapel and Gipsy Missionary Centre in Kesznyéten; the Virgin Mary’s Chapel (also known as Barracks Chapel or Memorial Chapel of Recsk) in Mátramindszent. The common feature of these chapels is the simplicity of their horizontal plan, which resulted in calmness and clarity, their modest dimensions – only covering 25 or 30 square metres – and harmonious interior designs that bring about the homey feeling. Each of the three buildings is proportionate with its respective small community, and in these villages it could not have been in a different way either. Their architectural forms are modest, the interiors and the exterior architectural masses are in direct interrelationship. A partial exception is the building in Kesznyéten where the ancillary rooms break up the simple harmony of the whole structure. Each design is an exemplary work of beautiful architectural modesty. The chapels in Sajóhídvég and Mátramindszent employ the archaic house design with a tent-roof, the one in Kesznyéten evokes the memorable type of round churches typical in Hungarian ecclesiastical architecture back in the era of the Árpád dynasty.