Pannonhalma Archabbey
Benedictine monastery on a hill above the Danube plain, with basilica, cloister and library.
The Benedictine community at Pannonhalma was founded in 996, shortly before Hungary adopted Christianity, and monks have lived on the hill almost continuously since. The complex grew in stages: the present basilica was consecrated in the early thirteenth century in a late Romanesque and early Gothic idiom, the Gothic cloister followed in the fifteenth century, and Baroque and Neoclassical wings were added later. The abbey, its surroundings and the nearby Millenary Monument were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996.
Visitors follow a route through the basilica, the cloister and the Neoclassical library hall, designed by Ferenc Engel and completed in the 1820s, which holds one of Hungary's largest historic book collections. The 55-metre tower over the entrance was built to plans by János Packh, and Ede Storno directed a thorough nineteenth-century restoration of the church. An arboretum, a herb garden and a working winery occupy the slopes below. The monastery still runs a boarding secondary school, and the community sings midday prayer in the basilica.
Highlights
- Late Romanesque basilica with the Porta Speciosa doorway
- Neoclassical library hall holding some 400,000 volumes
- Fifteenth-century Gothic cloister and chapter house
- Arboretum, herb garden and hillside vineyards
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