"My cultural heritage In my cultural heritage environment, the most important factor is the respect and the maintenance of our ancestors’ traditions. As for me, I would like to see my children growing up in an environment which not only respects the old, but admires the way they lived and transmits their heritage as well. This is why it is very important to preserve the buildings which reflect the history of our country and the roots of Europe. This is what I mean European heritage, to preserve our own identity, to teach the next generation to be loyal to the ancestors’ heritage and to develop and to stay European in our Europe. My story is special because Europe is so varied and in this multicultural background the folk culture I am going to present appears as a precious stone. In my opinion, the visual aspects on a basis of which we can make distinction among the various cultures, the most striking are the architecture and a country’s national clothing. I am very grateful because my city’s aim to protect such buildings I am going to talk about. Sunshine pedimented houses It isn't a surprise that Szeged is mentioned as the City of the Sun, since if you leave the imposing buildings of the city centre, in the lower part of the city, you can also find houses with sunshine motived pediments. When you get to this part of the city, a whole new world opens in front of your eyes: the peasant houses give you a cosy and calm vibe but the presence of the apartment complexes won't let us forget that we are still in a city. The story of the sunshine pedimented houses dates back a long time ago. The sun has always been an important part of decoration for people. In the symbol you can also find the ancient sun-worshipping and the close relationship with nature, because people's habits and routines were dictated by the sun. There weren't any electricity or smartphones, computers or even clocks. The peasants could only hope for help from the nature and God. In the 18th century, when black plague and firestorms came up multiple times in the cities, so did it in Szeged (houses made with reed tops and shingle roofs were mainly the reasons for the firestorms) the respect for the Holy Trinity greatly rose in people. The believers of the Holy Trinity made a pact in order to escape, heal or avoid disease, they built statues and chapels, and they also put the symbol of the Holy Trinity, the sunshine motive on the pediment of the houses, believing that God sees all, and he will protect them (Deus videt et providet.) The sun motive was preferably used in barrock temples as well as on frescos. The Great Flood of Szeged All the sunshine pedimented houses built before the Great Flood of Szeged became victims of it. The 1879 flood of the Tisza made a devastating destruction around the river proximity. This has made a devastating strike to the ancient form of the city, but at the same time, this destruction opened the possibilities of modern development. Lajos Lechner re-designed the whole city. He used a promenade and a liner to draw the roundabouts, avenues, public buildings, flats, and made Szeged to be what it is today. Some parts of the road system still use the name of cities which provided support in hard times. These cities were for example Rome, London, Brussel and Paris. The sun motives were put on the peasant houses’ pediments, tombstones, fences and wooden gates during the rebuilding process. The citizens respecting the Holy Trinity thought that this symbol will protect them from curses, diseases and problems. “The eye of God” The motives were located at the master beam part of the street. In the middle of it you could find the ""Istenszöm"" (The eye of God), from which the beams begin. In the old times these were painted in multiple colours. The pediments were lined with lacy rain seed planks, from which you could tell who made it since its design was the ""trademark"" of masters. Every pediment is different; all of them can be read separately. Since wood was the base of it which provides cosiness, and delight, this area has become a very friendly environment. The tree, bush and flower plating just add more to the closeness to nature. My choice I chose to talk about the sunshine-pedimented houses because I also live in an over 100 years old house. I think these houses all have a story to tell which we can learn from, but if we don't protect them, if we replace them with new, modern houses, because they're more ""fashionable"", where are we supposed to know their tales from? First of all, we need to know a little background story. Sunshine-pedimented houses were built in order to protect their owners. The sunshine motive was, and still is, the symbol of the Holy Trinity. People relied on God, trusted him, and totally hoped that God will protect their homes too. They prayed, went to churches, hung pictures of Jesus and Virgin Mary on their walls, put crosses on the walls in every room, and they built this motive too. My personal experience As for me, it is sad to see that today, the number of believers and the number of such houses keep reducing. That's why I want to save them. I don't want people forget about their traditions. I'm very close to Hungarian traditions, because I grew up in a family which provided me with all the knowledge I need to know about them. My dad studied history, so he knows everything about our past, and he also collects really old phones and furniture. His house looks like a museum, but I guess it's because he used to work in one. I had folk-dancing classes in elementary school. I wasn't the best of it, but I had a lot of fun, and I loved the skirts we were wearing. They made me feel if I were in another era. It was like time-travelling, but I guess I really did a few days ago, because I visited a sunshine-pedimented house. The rebirth of the tradition With the help of my history of art teacher, I asked a few of my classmates, who love folk dancing to dance in front of a house built in 1885 (national monument) in those beautiful skirts to bring back a little bit of the past. Then I went inside and it was like a whole new world, an open book with full of memories from the history of a family. The old pieces of furniture, the walls… They were standing there as proofs of their faith, their life, routines and love. I couldn't stop wondering what they went through. I saw a lot of old photos of people, and the same thought hit me again. How did they live? How was it different? What did they do during the world wars, during the day of starvations, during winter times? Were they happy? Don’t forget the roots That's why I think we need to keep these houses alive. I want their stories to tell, I want those people's story to be revealed. I want to be the one who tells their tale. People forget their traditions, their past, and their old family members. They just on their phones in this crazy, rapid world, they don't even think about what happened decades ago in our, in their history, they even do not care. But if you don't know who your ancestors were and what they did, do you really know who you are? The interior of the house After the flood, during the remake process, they made sample blueprints which people could choose from. You could build more beautiful or better but it couldn't be unorganized and without a set of rules. Typically, these houses had three rooms (a living room, a kitchen, and a ""clean room""), and they were perfectly symmetrical to the kitchen. The back room and the ""clean room"" looked exactly the same, only their function was different. The ""clean room"" always faced the front garden, so the family could show cleanness and order to the general public. This room was only used during holidays and when guests visited the family. The rooms had separate parts for women and men. The side at the oven (the place of work) was reserved for women, and the other part (the holy side) was reserved for men. The bedroom was usually a few steps upper in the building because in most cases there was a basement under it so women could cook there during the hot summer months when it was too hot outside so it did not only fill storage functions. Strong faith Everyone’s life was filled with the strong faith which wasn't only reflected in pediment motives but in the wall's decoration as well. The houses’ white walls were also decorated with pictures of saints. Numerous crosses and rose strings can also be found on the walls. These didn't only serve as a decoration but also a place they could pray since they could only visit churches once a week. In contrast to this, they had interesting superstitions which are related to the days of Saints. A perfect example for this would be that on Saint Ivan's day that if they lighted fire it would keep ice storms away. In the centre of the village there is the Matthias church which is one of the oldest church in the country. This was the centre of people’s faith in that region. Sándor Bálint The most important pieces of information of the town were collected by the most famous ethnographer of Szeged called Sándor Bálint. He was born into a paprika growing family and he lost his father when he was only one year old. He was the life ethnographer of that part of Szeged and he was the one who created the largest Hungarian ethnography. He also studied the Hungarian language, the culture, the traditions and he was a teacher as well. The sunshine pedimented houses are reducing Unfortunately, the sunshine pedimented houses are reducing. After the Great Flood of Szeged, around the 1880's, the building of sunshine pediment increased, there were hundreds of upper town peasant houses built with these pediments. After the First World War, the increasing price of the wood and the change of taste resulted in the decreasing number of such buildings. In 1940 they made a new law in order to support families with multiple children. They were given long term loans so they could build themselves family houses. Bálint Sándor suggested the usage of the sunshine motive on pediments once again. As a result of this, 836 of such buildings were built in in Csongrád county’s 4 cities and 16 villages. However, the number of such houses keeps reducing. Unfortunately, the new owners usually decide not to keep the designs of the pediments so in 2003 only 74 of such houses existed in Szeged. The remaining buildings are protected by Szeged as a monument. " Dear Reader! My Name is Csenge Gábor. I’m 16 years old. I live in a Hungarian city called Szeged. I’m a student of the Tomorkeny István Secondary school. My major subject is the history of art and I’m specialized in textiles. In my free-time I like painting and reading books about folk arts. I support the preservation of heritages in my city and in Europe.