A magyarországi szerb ortodox temetők, sírok és síremlékek
Serbian Orthodox Graveyards, Graves and Grave marks in Hungary

Summary/Abstract: Serbs belonging to the Orthodox Church and immigrating from the Balkans have been living and have been buried in the territory of present-day Hungary since the 15th century. Their early graveyards did not survive, and the archeological exploration of the Serbian cemeteries is not in the mainstream academic focus. Only a few gravestones from the 16th century in Ráckeve and from the end of 17th century in Buda testify the onetime existence of such cemeteries around Serbian Orthodox churches. Serbs in Hungary, who received church-related privileges after the Great Migration to Hungary in 1690, set up their cemeteries in numerous cities, towns and villages of Hungary, but almost all of these cemeteries were liquidated by the second half of the 20th century. From these cemeteries, a great number of gravestones of cultural, historic and artistic importance have been rescued and have been placed in churchyards and in contemporary Serbian cemeteries. As many Serbian communities have been depopulated due to the Serb population’s emigration to the Yugoslav state (1920-1931), due to migration to urban centers and due to the assimilation trends, a significant part of contemporary Serbian cemeteries are endangered and are exposed to decay. A project implemented by the Serbian Institute in 2011-2014 aimed to register and document Serbian Orthodox graves, grave marks and epitaphs. As a result of the project, an online digital database will soon be launched, which can support a professional program to protect this segment of Serbian heritage in Hungary.

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