Somoly Church Ruin

As the fifth milestone of Market Építő Zrt.’s ROM Vándor (Ruin Rover) heritage-rescue programme, the Gothic-style ruin of the Somoly Church, standing in the outskirts of Regöly, Tolna County, was restored in the summer of 2025. This sacred monument, built in the 14^th–15^th centuries and once the spiritual heart of the vanished village of Somoly, was abandoned during the Fifteen Years’ War and condemned to centuries of decay. The last conservation works had been carried out in 1963; in the decades since, its condition had severely deteriorated, which made a comprehensive restoration within the framework of the ROM Vándor programme both necessary and urgent.

The primary objective of the project was the professional preservation and structural reinforcement of the remaining medieval masonry. Cracks in the tower were stabilised using modern wall stitching techniques; disparate masonry sections were unified; and the original plaster surfaces were subjected to meticulous conservation, ensuring their long-term protection. The works also encompassed the installation of lightning protection, as well as the landscaping of the ruin and its environs, thereby transforming the site into a safe and coherent space for visitors.

Contemporary architectural interventions were integrated in harmony with the spirit of the place. In a unique solution, the lightning rod itself was designed to serve as a cross, thus fulfilling both technical and sacred roles. Within the tower hangs a suspended metal sculpture depicting a soaring dove – the Christian symbol of the Holy Spirit, purity, and innocence.

Our company financed the restoration in its entirety, undertaking every phase of the endeavour – from design through construction to landscaping – with our own professional team and in close partnership with our collaborators. Volunteers from our workforce also played a significant part: nearly fifty colleagues, joined by their families and partners, planted flowers and shrubs and tended to the trees surrounding the church ruin, contributing personally to the long-term preservation of the site.

The ROM Vándor programme aspires to safeguard and reimagine Hungary’s often-forgotten Árpád-era and medieval sacred monuments, returning them to life as accessible destinations and reinstating them upon the map of national and international pilgrimage and hiking routes. The restoration of the Somoly church ruin is a further successful chapter in this mission, serving simultaneously the cause of heritage protection, the creation of shared community value, and the flourishing of cultural tourism.