In the Footsteps of our Ancestors – in the Wake of Hungarians Coming to their Homeland
A virtual journey at Tiszacsoma Visit Centre and Memorial Park of the Hungarian Conquest
The Hungarian Tourism Council of Zakarpattia(HTCZ) and Cultural Alliance of Hungarians in Sub-Carpathia(CAHSC) organized a day-long event “In the footsteps of our Ancestors” for school children at Tiszacsoma Memorial Park of the Hungarian Conquest on May 14.
András Mester, the HTCZ president has greeted the young guests and briefly presented the history of the Memorial Park and the impressive Visit Centre, opened in 2020, as well as explained the significance of the petting zoo and the riding stable project under construction. In his presentation, he recalled that many artefacts from the Conquest times were found in Zakarpattia, and the cemetery discovered in Tiszacsoma of Beregszász district is known as the most significant memorial site in this area. The first archaeological excavations began in the outskirts of the village 130 years ago, when the traces of a settlement from the land-taking times were found. Almost a hundred years later, archaeologists have unearthed a final resting place of a 10th-century Hungarian border guard community and a settlement of those times, which provided a clear evidence that some of the conquering Hungarians did not pass by after crossing the Carpathians but settled here in the area. Therefore, it is a fact that Hungarians are present in this area for more than 1,100 years. In 1996, on the CAHSC’s initiative a memorial park was established in the northern part of the more than thousand-year-old cemetery. The Visit Centre and the Memorial Park located here presents to visitors the archeological finds in the cemetery from the Hungarian Conquest times. Barnabás Kész, ethnographer and historian has decorated the Visit Centre in a way that is true to the era: you can see a burial place of that epoch, a yurt divided in two parts, Hungarian flags of the centuries, tools, weapons, Hungarian folk costumes of different epochs. On the second floor of the Centre visitors can get familiar with the lifestyle of local Hungarians in the X. century, and the attic presents locally related memorabilia from the times of the kings of the Árpád dynasty.
József Sin, president of the local CAHSC organization also welcomed the guests and underlined: “Our homeland is here. Our conquering ancestors lived here, they settled in this area, and we preserve our Hungarianness to the present day, so – thanks to such places as Tiszacsoma Visit Centre and the Memorial Park of the Hungarian Conquest – we hope this will the case for a very long time”.
Afterwards, the groups from Tiszacsoma, Mezőgecse, Badaló, Nagymuzsaly and Bene took turns to take part in a half-an-hour guided tours, when through presenting the numerous elements of the exhibition, Ms Margit Kész, ethnographer and teacher of the Ferenc Rakoczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College of Higher Education, invited participants to a virtual journey.
In a particularly interesting way for children, she told about the lifestyle of the conquering Hungarians, their clothing, fighting manner and religion, táltos, about the yurt presented in the exhibition hall and items in it. During her presentation “The lifestyle and beliefs of the conquering Hungarians”, the students were involved in recalling the legends of origins of Hungarians – the legend of the totem ‘turul bird’ and the legend of the miraculous deer related to the story of Hunor and Magor, the legend of Lehel’s horn as well as heroic tales related to the world tree or the tree of life.
Meanwhile, crafts master classes took place in the smaller rooms, where children could learn bead weaving, macramé, weaving, and felting or make stick dolls. At the yard, under the guidance of Bence Csurman, the student of the Philology Faculty of Ferenc Rakoczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College of Higher Education, the bravest visitorscould try out one of the formidable weapons of the conquering Hungarians – the recurve reflex bow, as well as the ring whip of ‘csikós’ (mounted horse-herdsmen of Hungary)and ‘betyárs’ (highwaymen in Hungary). All children have visited the petting zoo, where they could see ponies, ‘racka’ sheep (special breed of sheep), rabbits, geese and ‘mangalicas’ (special breed of domestic pig). At the end of the event, the guests were offered goulash soup and freshly baked ‘fánks’ (traditional Hungarians donut).
It is our duty to know the history of conquering Hungarians, to remember the ancestors, the roots of the nation living in the heart of Europe, because it will remain ours as long as we know it. This event served this very purpose, and similar programmes are also planned in the future.
Alexandra Csuha
