Picture (above). This is a drawing of the Augustinian property at Buda in 1741. The buildings in the 1741 etching are as follows: the "gazdagsági épület" (the work/produce building) is on the far right; next to it leftwards is the temporary house of the Augustinian friars, which at this stage was single-storied; further left is the church of 1700-1752 with its wooden steeple (superseded by the present church, begun in 1752); on the far left is the new Augustinian convent house that in 1740 was still under construction. This friars' temporary convent was previously the house of János (John) Pamer, their former neighbour. The Augustinians purchased his house and land because the property that they had been given was small in size for the number of buildings they intended to erect there.
The "gazdagsági épület" (the work/produce building) included a brick kiln, which the Augustinians first established in about the year 1720 for making the bricks they needed themselves, and also as a means of financially supporting the monastery by selling bricks to others. The people of Buda, however, complained about the smoke and dust that resulted, and henceforth the Augustinians were restricted to producing bricks for their own use only.
There was also an Augustinian cemetery on the site. The wall around the monastery grounds was completed in 1722. The Augustinians also possessed other plots of land near Buda for other agricultural purposes, including a small vineyard.
The above drawing of 1741 shows the Danube River in the foreground, on which the Augustinians would have had a small jetty. The “river side” was the rear of the property, and the photographs of 1920 and 1990 three pages ahead show the opposite side (i.e., the highway side) of the property. The Augustinian property extended from the highway to the Danube River, i.e., it enjoyed a highway frontage and a river frontage.
The first bridge across the Danube River physically linking Buda and Pest on its opposite banks was Lánc Híd (literally, the chain bridge) was completed in 1849. (The main commercial district was on the Pest side of the river). Before 1849 transit across the Danube was provided by ferries and barges.
(Continued on the next page.)
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