King St Stephen’s church (Pusztasomorja)

The village of Geszternye, which was destroyed in Turkish times, was repopulated by settlers from Somorja (now Šamorín, Slovakia) in Csallóköz (Great Rye Island) in 1686 (hence today’s name of Pusztasomorja). The medieval church was rebuilt between 1713 and 1735 in Baroque style. Its furnishings include Baroque works, such as the pulpit (with a relief of the Sower on its balustrade), the gilded-painted statue of Mary and the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows. There are statues of King St Stephen, Prince St Emeric and King St Ladislaus on the neo-Romanesque high altar. A plaque on the side wall of the church commemorates Pusztasomorja’s heroic dead of World War II. There is a 19th-century stone cross in front of the church.