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Saint Michael's Church

The joint church of the people of Lemhény and the people of Almás was built on Saint Michael's Hill, which is clearly visible from a bird's eye view. Oral tradition preserves the memory of an ancient church, which, being very old, collapsed and a new one had to be built in its place. The exact time of the construction of the ancient church cannot be established. The buttresses covered with Gothic rain sprinklers and the carved cornice of the foundation testify to the late Gothic period. According to this, the construction of the Gothic church can be done at the end of the 15th century at the latest. The Latin inscription on the triumphal arch: "Olim erat scriptum 1510" can only be the date of the church renovation. Around this time, the castle wall surrounding the church was also built, which can be related to the castle wall of Szentlélek and Estztelnek. The Baroque church acquired its present form during the reconstruction in 1777. There is also a legend about the construction of the St. Michael's Church, because an agreement was reached between the two villages that two dogs would be exchanged and when signaled, the dogs would be released from their village and the church would be built where the two dogs meet. But according to the legends, the people of Almás were a bit cunning and beat the dog of the people of Lemhény, so it could not run. The two dogs met near Almás and the church was built there, which is why it is closer to Almás. According to the Memorial Book of Háromszék County, the church castle was strengthened in 1607 during the time of the Transylvanian prince Zsigmond Rákóczi. The construction of the church's castle wall and defensive towers can be dated to the 17th century, while the gate tower could have been built in the 16th century. In 1777, the pediment with sculpture niches led by a wavy spiral line was erected to replace the simple, triangular western pediment. You can enter the church castle through the gate tower on the east side, which also served as a bell tower. The one-nave, towerless church stands in the middle of an oval courtyard surrounded by a high castle wall. The defensive wall is strengthened by buttresses, which were presumably built later for the castle. There is a semicircular, multi-story tower on the north and south sides. Below the belt cornice, the year 1907 can be read with an elliptical stucco decoration on the east and west sides, which probably indicates the last major repair of the tower. The church is only used during important church events, church farewells and funerals. It used to be a joint church of Lemhény and Kézdialmás, but because it is relatively far from the settlements, both congregations later built separate churches for themselves down in the village. The picturesque church is surrounded by an ancient cemetery with old gravestones carved from stone.

Triumphal arch

The predecessor of the church surrounded by a protective wall may have been a Romanesque-style building, which was then remodeled in the late Gothic style of Triszék at the beginning of the 15th century (this may be indicated by the year 1510 on the triumphal arch), and then in 1777 in the Baroque style. During the renovation, the message announced by the instruments of the two angels was found: Surgite mortui - Awake, arise dead, Venite adjudicio - Come to the judgment.

Main altar

The image of the main altar was replaced at the turn of the century, and to this day, the Archangel Saint Michael created by Baroness Stephanie Szentkereszty in 1899 based on the work of the Italian painter Guido Reni. decorated with his painting. The baroness painted the painting in 1899 and donated it as a main altarpiece to Saint Michael's church in Lemhény. Size: 208x103 cm, frame size approx. 12 cm. The signature on the back of the painting: "Painted for the glory of the Lord for the Lemhény church after Guido Reni by Báró Szentkereszty Stephanie 1899". The baroness copied it after Guido Reni (1575-1642). The archangel appears as a winged horseman, in combat clothing and shiny weapons. In his right hand is his symbol, the huge and bright sword with which he defeats all evil. With his left foot, he steps on the head of Lucifer, the personification of evil, who he pushes down from heaven, thus sending him to hell. Guido Reni's original, huge-sized painting (293x202 cm) can be found in the Capuchin church in Rome. Furthermore, we can see Our Lady of Sorrows and Saint John the Baptist and Jesus Baptized in the Jordan.

Side altars

Its side altars in Coptic style were built in honor of the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Organ and organ gallery

The organ with eight registers, a mechanical system, was made in 1899 in the instrument factory of József Angster and his son in Pécs, and was completely renovated in 2021 in the organ building workshop of Zoltán Pap in Székelyudvarhely. On November 4, 2023, at the rededication of the church, the organist Attila Pap, the son of the master organ builder who restored the instrument, performed an organ concert. A stucco figure of St. Cecilia can be seen on the front of the organ gallery.

Old consecration crosses

Thanks to the renovation, the old, original consecration crosses were also found. The original can be seen on the first column on the right side of the sanctuary. They modeled the rest on this.

Stuccos

In the stucco decoration, you can see St. George, St. Michael, the Holy Trinity, and in the sanctuary, you can see a rich stucco decoration with a barrel vault depicting St. Joseph, St. Catherine of Alexandria and the Holy Trinity. The names found during the renovation represent the supporters and donors.

Pulpit

The parapet of its ornate, crowned pulpit immortalized, among other things, Calvary. It is not used after the II. Vatican Council, instead there is the ambo (where we read).

Church hall

The vault of the present-day nave and the sanctuary is a vault with drawers divided by semicircular straps. Thanks to the Hungarian government, a new stone altar was also built, which was executed by the stone carvers Bartalis Barna and Bartalis Lajos from Kézdiszentlék. The relics of Saint Clement and Saint Adalbert were placed in the altar.

Tower

The castle garden-like entrance opens under a bell tower built separately from the church, which has an onion-domed baroque helmet, it protected the entrance to the castle and an older, so-called it was a gate tower. During the complete renovation, the bell tower was also re-roofed, the parts of the wooden structure of the roof in need of repair were replaced, and it was also re-roofed with copper sheeting. In 2023, a time capsule was added to the tower.

Bells

The tower, which has an onion-domed baroque helmet, protected the entrance to the castle and an older, so-called it was a gate tower. The smallest of the tower's three bells dates from 1697 and is also called the Rákóczi bell. This is where the ornaments that signal the change of Renaissance style first appear: cantus leaves, Italian wreath. It is one of the most valuable Renaissance bells in Háromszék. According to oral tradition, "at the time of the great calamity", the bell was hidden in the water of one of the backwaters of the Feketeügy River. According to the initials HL, it was made by the Saxon bell casting master Lampe Heinrich from Brasov, circular inscription: "REX GLORIAE JESU CHRISTE VENI CUM AETERNA IN PACE o CURA ME:LEMHENYENSYS o HL. 1697.” While its two larger bells were melted down in 1849, Gábor Áron spared this small bell. After that, there must have been another bell, which was requisitioned on August 10, 1916, since the new bell shield cast in 1929 states that it was cast by the faithful of Almás and Lemhény with Frigyes Kauntz, a famous master bell caster from Sibiu, instead of the bell that had been taken. The big bell weighs more than 980 kg, so its beautiful sound fills the villages of Kézdiszék in clear weather.

Bastion

On the north and south sides of the castle wall, there is a semicircular, multi-level defensive bastion. Their front walls are lobed and have spiral volutes and sculptural niches. There was no castle wall around the ancient church, the experts place its construction at the beginning of the 16th century (1607). The bastion visible in our recording was built in 1770 by the Sigmond family from Lemhény. After the last renovation, the inscription "Sigmond family 1770" was not written back on the facade of the bastion. From the side of the courtyard, there are regularly spaced, low-lying loopholes, their niches with eyebrow stones are 60x55 centimeters. The 5x50 centimeter gaps with a slightly wider opening on the lower part are in the shape of an inverted keyhole. The perforations are mostly straight, but there are also some lateral ones.

Old memories in the bastion

The remains of the cross from the old tower and the two ventilators, were both shot in World War II, they can also be seen in the bastion.