Lost & Found – The Discovery of Tamasda (Lost Lands #162)

Zerind should have been enough for me. My scrutiny of a map showing the village and surrounding area yielded several enjoyable discoveries. This included a town hall, sister settlement, cemetery, and the Crisul Negru River. I could not have asked for much more while planning my itinerary for the lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders. I still felt like I had only scratched the surface in Zerind. That is a strange thing to say about a village with just 1,300 inhabitants. I know from experience there is only so much I can learn in a small village where I do not speak the lingua franca. In Zerind that language is overwhelmingly Hungarian because nine out of every ten people who live there are ethnic Hungarians.

Anyone who has ever seen or heard Hungarian knows it takes years to learn. I know a handful of phrases and some basic words, but those will not do me much good in Zerind. I will have to rely on curiosity and imagination. In my opinion, those are the two greatest traits any traveler can have in a foreign country. Curiosity to explore the unknown and challenge your own assumptions. Imagination to envision the past and how it shaped the present. There is no substitute for these two traits. They are an invaluable aid for me as I investigate little known places like Zerind and my newest find, Tamasda (Tamashida).

Life Force – Going With The Flow

What I am about to say will sound superficial and that’s fine with me. The way Tamasda effortlessly rolls off my tongue drew me to it as soon as I saw the village’s name on the map. I felt familiar with the name at first sight. This had to do with word play. The sound of Tamasda evoked thoughts of Masada, the Jewish fortress that was put under siege and destroyed by the Romans. The association between Tamasda and Masada ends there. While Tamasda has been part of history, it never made history the way Masada did. As a child I recall spending several evenings transfixed by a television drama on the siege of Masada. I cannot imagine that anyone would ever do the same for Tamasda, though it too suffered destruction due in the Mongol Invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1241-42. Tamasda did not manage to hold out against overwhelming odds like Masada, but it did rise again.

Tamasda is intriguing for several reasons. The first is that it sits on the northern bank of the Crisul Negru River, a unique setting close to nature. The Crisul Negru River is a major river except for those who live in the villages and towns along its banks. The river only stretches a little over a hundred kilometers. Length and breadth do not matter for the inhabitants of Tamasda. The river is a marker of the village’s identity. While the river runs beside rather than through the village, without it, Tamasda would probably not exist. While I have not been able to find the exact reason for the creation of Tamasda, the river was almost certainly the initial factor as an avenue of transport and a life-giving force. The two have a symbiotic relationship. One cannot be discussed without mentioning the other. The river has been the one constant throughout the village’s history.?

Built To Last - Romanesque Ruins

Tamasda’s other critical relationship is with the village of Zerind, five kilometers further downriver on the southern bank of the Crisul Negru. Since Zerind is located astride the main road between Arad and Oradea, it gets more attention from travelers. There are other differences, mainly administrative as Zerind is in Arad County and Tamasda in Bihor. The Crisul Negru unites the two villages, but administratively it is the dividing line between them. Tamasda is not far off the highway, but it is easy to overlook. As part of my itinerary for the lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders it will get my full attention. Tamasda is a short detour on this journey. To get there requires turning off the E671 onto the DC290 and following the road west for a couple of kilometers. From there I should be able to find the village’s top attraction, the ruins of an 11th century Romanesque Church, some of which are still improbably standing. While they are in very bad shape, the fact that the church still stands shows that it was built to last. Keeping the faith meant sacral architecture of solidity.

Besides the river and expansive sky, which make for fabulous photos on the outskirts of Tamasda, the Romanesque Church ruins are its most eye-catching attraction. I looked at over 20 photos while researching the village and almost all of them showed parts of the ruins. It is obviously a matter of great pride for the village. Romanesque Churches, whether still standing or in ruins, are few and far between in the lost lands. That is because the Mongols who swept into the Kingdom of Hungary assaulted people and structures with a ferocity unlike had ever happened before. They laid waste to anyone or anything unlucky enough to be in their way. The Romanesque Church managed to survive the onslaught at least partly intact. That goes to show the church was well constructed.

Middle Ages - Survival of the Remnants

Tamasda, a fortified German village at the time of the Mongol invasion, was destroyed. As for the Romanesque Church, it survived and in later centuries sported Gothic addition. Nevertheless, the church could not escape from slowly falling into disrepair. Indifference and neglect did more damage than invaders. At a certain point, the residents of Tamasda must have felt that saving the church was a lost cause. Its decline accelerated to such an extent that the structure could not be restored. Fortunately, no effort was undertaken to demolish the ruins. Today, the ruins consist of the sanctuary and the western part of the church. Who knows how much longer the church ruins can stand the test of time. Judging by the ruins’ survival from the Middle Ages to modern times, the Romanesque Church in Tamasda might still be standing for several more centuries.