The western pair of towers
During the renovations in the 1990s, a large foundation wall of rubble stone was found next to the western façade of the basilica on the north side, which probably belonged to a western tower. 18th-century surveys and drawings still show evidence of a tower that once stood here but was later demolished. The third question was whether, if we assume that there were two towers on the west side of the church, rather than just one, there is any evidence of the existence of the second tower on the south side.
The presumed site of the tower is now partly occupied by a cellar, and it is here that we have begun our search for remains. Once the concrete floor and other modern layers were removed, we found that the sandstone forming the hill was visible everywhere under the foundations. In other words, if there was a pair of western towers, we cannot provide archaeological evidence for the southern member of this pair.
The monks’ cemetery
During a survey of the building in the 1990s, an 11th-century walled-up gateway leading to the north courtyard was found in the church, along with various funerary inscriptions on the wall. These already suggested that the monks may have had their cemetery in this area. Our excavation revealed the remains of several graves in the higher parts of the courtyard. As the area here was also extremely disturbed, no completely intact burials were found. Sometimes the skull of one of the buried persons, sometimes his legs, sometimes his entire upper body was missing due to later construction. The graves had no attachments of any kind next to the dead, which is in keeping with medieval burial customs. Carbon isotope analysis of the bones proved that these graves are the final resting place of the earliest inhabitants of the monastery. This is confirmed by the discovery of late medieval tombs in the cloister area by Csaba László during previous research.
The excavated tombs also confirm that the 11th century sanctuary of the basilica is certainly identical in shape to the one visible today, as the early tombs east of the sanctuary were aligned with the 13th century wall.
The early royal manor house
We know that at the time of the monastery's foundation, in the 11th century, there was already a royal manor house on the hill of St Martin. One of the questions of our research was whether the last thousand years had left no trace of it, or whether there were still any reminders of this building. On the site where the building probably once stood, there is now a Classicist library building. It has been suggested that there may be archaeological evidence in the northern courtyard, between the Baroque wing of the monastery and the basilica, which could confirm this. The excavation started next to the block of the late medieval sacristy, but it soon became clear that substantial regrading had been carried out here in the first half of the 20th century, so that only the sandstone forming the hill was found beneath the present pavement. One detail gave some hope: the square foundation excavated in the middle of the courtyard. However, only the lowest rows of stones, sunk into the rock, were found, and we were not able to observe any archaeological features, so that neither its age nor its function could be determined.