The church is often a venue for concertsIn the centre of the village a Roman Catholic Church stands in honour of Saint Martin. It was built from the reddish stone mined and carved locally. During its renovation in 1958 Romanesque fragments from the 3rd century were discovered. The church was rebuilt in Gothic style in the 4th century. Its tower is still visible from far away..

In 1248 when the name of Bogács was first mentioned in a written text, there was already a church standing in the village, however that one was named after Saint George (Szent György). According to an inventory the name was the same even in 1568, but the findings from 1724 – that is after the Turkish rule in Hungary – showed that at that time Saint Martin was considered to be the patron saint of the church.

There was a cemetery next to this 3rd century church and both of them were surrounded by a stone wall. Since the church was built on a higher point and it had very thick walls it could have had some kind of defence purpose.
The most ancient, Romanesque part may have been the sacristy, the presbytery, the tower up to a certain height and the chapel. Gothic style is the most visible in the piers and the windows.

Fragments from the 3rd century were discovered during the renovation of 1958In 1901 an altar-piece of Saint Martin was brought to the church, in 1909 a new organ was purchased from Rieger Company. The bells you can see now were placed into the church in 1928 to replace the two huge bells that had been taken away during the First World War, and the other ones which had got cracked in the meantime.

In 1940 István Takács – a painter from Mezőkövesd – completed a painting called The Good Shepherd, which was restored during the renovation of 2000.

A new steeple was placed on the tower in 1984, the presbytery got its present look in 1992-93, the versus populum altar was carved from the reddish stone of Bogács by stonemason László Csíki. The tabernacle and the pulpit reflect the excellent work done by stonemason András Fülöp.

In 2005 a 400-500-year old sculpture called the Madonna of Bogács got into the church. It may have come from England or Ireland but arrived in Hungary from Spain through the intervention of Nyberius Bertil a Hungarian man living in Sweden. This sculpture was given its own altar and the legendary stories and plaques of gratitude suggest that miraculous recoveries and help can be associated with the Madonna.

The statue of Nepomuki Szent János (Saint John of Nepomuk) standing next to the church was made in 1824 – by János Csíky senior – and has been in the church garden not far from the entrance since 1970.

The church can be visited free of charge after pre-arrangement
Address: II. János Pál pápa tér (square)
Phone: +36 49/534-032