The town won 562 million forints (EUR 1.8m) in EU and government support for the project dubbed the Church of Survival, he said.

The 13th-century church will be reconstructed and opened to visitors next year. The complex will also include a lookout tower, a visitors’ centre, a memorial park and an interactive exhibition covering the whole history of the nation.

Nagygéc was almost completely destroyed by the flooding River Szamos on May 13, 1970, and all its 760 inhabitants had to be evacuated.

After the water receded, the communist authorities of the time, citing flood control reasons, did not permit them to return.

Ever since, the surviving former inhabitants of Nagygéc have returned each year to remember their one-time home.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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