Reformed Church, Madar

In the autumn of 1562, the famous reformer, Gál Huszár, began spreading Calvinist ideas in Komárom and its surroundings. The village has had a pastor elected by the Reformed congregation since 1620. The church, which is still in use today, was built between 1687 and 1691 using part of the walls of the old Turkish mosque and was consecrated on January 6. The decade of mourning left its mark on the village's Reformed character: in 1674, the Emergency Tribunal sentenced István Kiskó, a pastor from Madar, to galley slavery for his adherence to the Protestant faith, and he perished. Also after his galley slavery, Márton Szentpéteri became a pastor in Madar, and he urged the construction of the church. The village was shaken by an earthquake in 1763, and the wooden vault of the church cracked in two. The galleries were built in 1766. The bells were placed in the tower. According to the minutes, the first bell was cast in Bratislava in 1787. The second was also cast in Bratislava in 1798. To the left of the church entrance, next to the Reformed school, there is a small bell on wooden legs of the Madar Reformed parish, which was cast in 1749. The minutes first mention it in 1792. This is one of the oldest bells in the area. The church was covered with reeds in 1800. In July 1886, the entire village burned to the ground in a fire. We know from the Komáromi Lapok that 350 houses burned down along with their outbuildings. In 1904, the church, the rectory, the school, the notary's office and the residential houses along with their outbuildings burned down again. The bells in the church tower melted, and the clock also burned. The reconstruction work was completed by the Madar parish in 1912 during the time of pastor Gyula Udvardy. Then the new bells were put in the tower, which the congregation had cast in Kisgelyőc. Since then, three bells of different sizes have lived in the tower and call the faithful to the church. The congregation purchased the new clock from tower clock maker János Müller. This dwelling has suffered many blows in the past century, and World War II also left its mark on it, and the tower was hit in the fall of 1944. Fortunately, the bells were not damaged. The Madar congregation removed the traces of the war from the church in 1953. At the turn of the millennium, the Madar congregation, together with its pastor, Dr. Lajos Nagy, made a big decision. The church underwent nearly 10 years of renovation work. The floor of the church had to be replaced, and the outer wall was also given a new covering. During the work, human skeletons were also found, suggesting that centuries ago, there may have been a cemetery on this site.