The ROM Vándor heritage preservation program of Market Építő Zrt. has reached its fifth stop in Regöly: the Somoly church ruin has been handed over

The ROM Vándor program, launched by Market Építő Zrt. in 2021, aims to discover, preserve, and promote our domestic, Árpád-era sacred architectural heritage. The Somoly church ruin is the fifth successful project of the program, which was reborn after the Tök church ruin, the Kövesd church ruin in Aszófő, the Csákányospuszta ruin monument near Tatabánya, and the Varjaskér church ruins in Somogyszentpál.

Krisztina Deák, Deputy State Secretary responsible for the protection of monuments and cultural heritage, Sándor Scheer, founder and CEO of Market Építő Zrt., Ildikó Budai-Vajk, Mayor of Regöly, and Péter Belecz, Program Director of ROM Vándor, delivered speeches at the handover of the ruin. As part of the ceremonial handover, the priest Tamás Lábár blessed the sacred monument.

The Gothic-style church located on the outskirts of Regöly in Tolna County preserves the memory of the former village of Somoly, which was permanently depopulated during the Fifteen Years’ War. The remains of the building, which had been abandoned for centuries, were only conserved in 1963 by the National Monuments Inspectorate based on the plans of H. Klára Nándori. The condition of the monument has deteriorated significantly in recent decades. The primary goal of the interventions carried out within the framework of the ROM Vándor program was the professional protection of the remaining monument values. During the project, the static reinforcement of the preserved, centuries-old brick walls was carried out, the cracks in the tower were professionally treated with a modern wall seaming method, the uniform processing of the different walls, the restoration conservation of the original plasters, the establishment of lightning protection, and the landscape architecture arrangement of the ruin area and its approach.

As a result of the environmental planning and restoration works, an introductory route to the ruin has now been created and the surroundings of the disturbed ruin area have been tidied up in order to ensure that the site can be walked around safely and to present a uniform landscape. On the now-traditional company volunteer day, nearly fifty employees planted flowers and shrubs, enriching the protection of the inner “green island.” The trees surrounding the ruin were cleaned, pruned, and cared for.