Archaeological Contributions to the Establishment of the Plan of the Igriș/Egres Cistercian Abbey Church

Abstract

The monastery of Igriș/Egres (Timiș County, Romania) was one of the most important Cistercian monastic sites of the 13th century in the Hungarian Kingdom. After identifying the now entirely buried remains, excavations conducted between 2016 and 2021 found a multi-layered archaeological site, with an earlier village church and at least two main construction periods of the church of the Cistercian monastery. Despite being a royal foundation and having its first monks come from one of the four most important Cistercian mother monasteries, the plan of the first monastery church of Igriş bears little resemblance to the typical Cistercian plan. It had a typical basilical plan, its eastern end terminating in three semicircular apses. The second construction phase of the church made a stressed transition towards the more conventional Cistercian forms. The semicircular apse of the main sanctuary was transformed into a rectangular one and had a transept inserted. Besides giving a basic description of the most important medieval architectural remains found, the following article attempts to make some preliminary assessments with regard to the general historical and architectural context.