Cylindrical pieces from the column of St. John's Hospital from the 16th century and a piece from the support column of the statue of St. John of Nepomuk to the south of the building were recently found in the Széna Square, which is under renovation. Instead of being transported to a museum, the finds will be exhibited at the original location, masodikkerulet.hu writes.

The excavated columns and remains were presented at the press conference held in Széna Square (Photo: masodikkerulet.hu)

" Exploring our past and memories, helping to remember, preserving archeological finds is as important for the district as preserving natural values," said Mayor Gergely Őrsi, who held a press conference on 9 June in Széna Square with Márta Branczik art historian, Zoltze Bencze historian, Tamás Dévényi the Miklós Ybl Prize-winning architect.

“ The archaeological finds that have now been excavated were an integral part of the former life of the square, so we would definitely like to exhibit the remains of the building and the statue in the renovated square. To this end, we contacted the Budapest History Museum and asked for the possibility of placing the remains in the square, ”the district's website quotes the mayor as saying.

The old János Hospital on Széna Square around 1910 (Source: FSZEK Budapest Collection)

At the press conference, Tamás Dévényi said that they would try to put the column and the remains of the statue exactly where they were originally in the renovated Széna Square. It is planned that a memorial surface will be placed in the plane of the bike path to be built here, showing where the pillars once stood, and the stones, the two large stone pillars, will be overturned next to it.

In today's Széna Square a hospital stood from 1710, which functioned as a poor house and detachment during the plague - with a total of 12 beds - and later served as a hospital.  It got its name first in front of the hospital and then from the statue of St. John in the chapel.

The hospital was expanded in 1828. It operated as a military hospital from 1848 to 1849, and from 1868 it was reclassified as a regular public hospital. The hospital was expanded again from 1873, with 6 doctors treating patients in 20 wards. At the end of the century, the city decided to build a new hospital with a pavilion system in Buda. The new St. John's Hospital opened in 1898, and since then the Széna Square Hospital has been referred to as the "Old St. John's Hospital".

The hospital in 1935 (Source: FSZEK Budapest Collection)

From 1932, the hospital was again turned into a poor house, the Home of the Beloved on the Danube of the Capital City, and operated as a poor house until World War II. He suffered such injuries during the war that the ruins were demolished in 1949.

Source: masodikkerulet.hu, pestbuda.hu

Cover photo: Columns of the old St. John's Hospital found in Széna Square (Photo: masodikkerulet.hu)