Calvinist Church, Ketesd

Kós’s original sketch design of 1929 represents a clear and highly stylized synthesis of his earlier architectural ideas. The slender tower functions as a pivot between the austere gabled façade and the open porch on the side, supported by four large columns. Due to lack of funds, construction was postponed.

The building eventually realized on the site of the former (demolished) church is considerably more conservative than the first sketch design. Only the columns of the side entrance and the elongated paired window openings recall the original concept, while the characteristic four-turreted tower once again appears as the principal focal point. It is difficult to determine whether the design was altered because the congregation did not accept the original proposal, or because the architect’s own approach had changed, as eight years elapsed between the first design and the start of construction.

Together with the old church, one of the largest wooden bell towers in Kalotaszeg was also demolished; all of these structures survive today only through drawings made by the architect. Of the original painted wooden ceiling panels (by János Gyulai Asztalos, 1692), twenty-one were transferred to the new church.

Excerpt from Református Szemle, 20 November 1942:

Church consecration in Ketesd, 25 October 1942

“…Among those present at the consecration were: Károly Kós, chief lay curator, according to whose artistic design our beautiful and solid church was built; Kálmán Farkas, chief magistrate of the Bánffyhunyad district; Dezső Albrecht, church curator and member of parliament; and Elek Albrecht, district agricultural inspector…”

(pp. 514–515)