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THE STONE
VIRGIN OF KOMARNO
You can find her on your walk
through Komarno around the fortress that protected Komarno for a long time
against the invading armies of Turks in the 14th and 17th centuries. She
stands on Madonna's bastion, a part of the new fortress. It is a symbol of
resistance and inability of armies to conquer the fortified system. Originally
you could see that she was showing a gesture of a fig, a laugh at the enemy
army. This gesture was strengthened by Latin sentence: Nec Arte, Nec Marte (Nor with trick, neither with strength). The fact is that the
Komarno's
Fortress has never been defeated by anyone.
Nowadays you can see some changes
on her because of vandalism of Russian army who occupied Komarno from 1968
till 1989. They broke off her right arm, which completely destroyed the
original meaning of the symbol. Fortunately the sculpture was renovated to its
original beauty, however the arm with the gesture of the fig was replaced with
an arm holding a wreath. To us it remains the symbol of resistance.
© Claudia Veghova
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Published in the
Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 6, No. 1, Spring 1998
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 1998
3804 Yale
Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5C 1P6
The above article and
photographs may not be copied, reproduced, republished, or redistributed
by any means including electronic, without the express written permission
of Vladimir
Linder. All rights reserved.
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