Halmeu - The Calvinist Church

Halmeu is one of the oldest settlements of the county of Ugocea. The village was first mentioned in 1217, in the Register of Oradea, when four inhabitants were submitted to the ordeal of the hot iron. The church is mentioned for the first time in the register of the papal tithes, in 1322. The exact date when the church was built is unknown, but, according to the inscription on the tabernacle with the year 1417, the construction must be ended at the beginning of the 15th century. The church keeps its medieval shape, although it has suffered many transformations during centuries. The sanctuary ends with three sides of an octagon, it has pointed-arch windows, and it is vaulted. One of the consoles of the vault is decorated with a carved human head. On the outer side, buttresses hold the walls. The doorframe of the vestry, the niche of the tabernacle, and the priest’s chair were found on the southern side of the sanctuary, during the restoration in 1958. On the northern side of the triumphal arch, another niche was revealed. The ceiling of the nave was flat at first, but it was replaced with a net of wooden vault of gothic aspect (the same type of vault has the Calvinist Church of Hust). The change was made during the rebuilding of the tower in 1858. The wooden tower on the western façade was replaced with a stone one, while the nave was also enlarged. The old gothic frame of the entrance was reused. The new neo-gothic tower is octagonal at the upper side. The crypt of the church, made in the 18th century, houses the graves of the families who funded the reconstruction of the church after the Tatar invasion in 1717. The crown of the pulpit dates from late baroque. In the cemetery surrounding the church are still preserved gravestones made of profiled stone, from the 19th century. The two bells date from 1928, respectively from 1861. (TSz).

References:
Bara Csaba, A halmi református templom, in Architectură religioasă medievală din Transilvania, red. Kiss Imola – Szőcs Péter Levente, Satu Mare, 1999, 214–218.