Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment

Brief Description

Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment

Justification for Inscription

The Committee decided to inscribe the nominated property on the basis of cultural criteria (iv) and (vi) considering that the site is of outstanding universal value illustrating in an exceptional manner the structure and setting of an early Christian Monastery that has evolved over a thousand years of continuous use. Its location and the early date of its foundation bear unique witness to the propagation and continuity of Christianity in Central Europe.

Long Description

Pannonhalma illustrates in an exceptional manner the structure and setting of an early Christian Monastery that has evolved over 1,000 years of continuous use. Its location and the early date of its foundation bear exceptional witness to the propagation and cvontinuity of Christianity in Eastern Europe.

When the monastery was created the area was occupied by Bavarian and Slav farmers, who came here in the wake of Charlemagne's armies. Benedictine monks came in 996 from Italy and the Bohemian and German lands to this sacred mountain in the former Roman province of Pannonia. They came to the aid of Prince Geza and his son Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, in their efforts to humanize the Hungarians, who were terrorizing the settled peoples of Europe and sacking the towns and monasteries of northern Italy, Bavaria, and Franconia. The Benedictine monastery set up here as the eastern bridgehead of medieval European culture retained that role for 1,000 years, with only brief interruptions. It exercised an Important cultural and juridical role in Hungary, and its abbots played a leading role in public life.

The first monastery is known only from records, as it was burned down at the beginning of the 12th century. Reconstruction took place slowly, until Uros became Abbot (1207-43). In 1472 the king took over the monastery and undertook an extensive renovation. The present cloister and other buildings with a religious function were built, and the monastery was fortified. However, monastic life became difficult; the monastery was badly damaged by fire and largely abandoned in 1575, to be occupied by the Turks in 1594. The Community returned in 1638, and the Baroque elements of the monastery, such as the refectory, were added. The 'Enlightenment' of the 18th century had its impact on the monastic communities, which were judged according to their contribution to the state. The order was re-established in 1802. In most cases the monks moved out into houses in neighbouring towns and the monastic buildings were turned over to education, but at Pannonhalma monastic life continued, with the school being incorporated into the monastery itself.

The area consists of the main group of monastic buildings, the Calvary and Chapel of Our Lady, the Millenary Monument, and the lands surrounding them. The present church, of 1224, is the third on the site; it contains remains of its predecessors. The elevated three-aisled choir, the oldest part of the building, overlies a three-aisled crypt, part of the earlier church. The nave aisle is formed of richly decorated columns, supporting sexpartite vaulting; the roof of the choir is decorated with stars, of late 15th-century work. The chapels and the baptistry, with its Renaissance door and window frames, date from the same period. This door gives access to the cloister, a typical square late Gothic ensemble built in 1486. The building contains a series of mural paintings by Antonio Fossati. The main Monastery consist of a group of buildings dating from the 13th-15th centuries that were originally single-storey but raised to two storeys in 1912, erected in part over the medieval cloister.

The Chapel of Our Lady, building of which began in 1714, is situated at the top of the southern hill. The nave is barrel-vaulted, and is joined to the Sanctuary by a large triumphal arch. Its original Baroque interior was restored in Romantic Style in 1865. The Millenary Monument is one of seven erected to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of the conquest of Hungary in 896. It is located at the crest of the central hill, where it replaced the Calvary that is now located in front of the Chapel of our Lady. It consists of a single block, constructed in brick and limestone. The stone portico is formed of a tympanum bearing a symbolic relief, supported on two pairs of iconic columns.

The principal elements of the area around the monastic complex are the forest and the botanical garden. The forest, on the eastern slopes of the Pannonhalma landscape, is largely the traditional oak forest of this region. The flora of the botanical garden is composed of two groups: half forest trees and plants, of mixed age, and half hedgerow and park species, both native and exotic. Both the forest and the botanic garden are seen as illustrating the landscape value of the region as a whole and also to set off the aesthetic values of the man-made element represented by the buildings of the monastery.

Historical Description

The site of the present monastery has been settled since prehistoric times. when the monastery was created the area was occupied by Bavarian and Slav farmers, who came were in the wake of Charlemagne's armies.

Benedictine monks came in 996 from Italy and the Bohemian and German lands to this sacred mountain in the former Roman province of Pannonia. They came to the aid of Prince Géza and his son Stephen I, the first king of Hungary. In their efforts to humanize the Hungarians, who were terrorizing the settled peoples of Europe and pillaging and sacking the towns and monasteries of northern Italy, Bavaria, and Franconia. Bruno of Saint-Gall, St Wolfgang, Bishop of Regensburg, St Adalbert, Bishop of Prague, Bruno de Querfurt, and St Gerard of Venice were among those who instructed the Hungarians settled on the eastern edge of Europe not only in the Christian faith but also in the European culture of the turn of the 10th century. Certain medieval sources claim that St Martin, Bishop of Tours and protector of the nascent monastic movement was born here. It is of great historical and religious importance that the Benedictine monks founded their first ho use here, where St Martin was born.

The monastery set up here as the eastern bridgehead of medieval European culture retained that role for a thousand years, with only brief interruptions. It exercised an important cultural and juridical role in Hungary, and its abbots played a leading role in public life. The first monastery is known only from records, since it was burned down at the beginning of the 12th century. Reconstruction took place slowly, until Uros became Abbot (1207-43). He was assiduous in obtaining status for the monastery independent of the Hungarian hierarchy (nu mus dioscesis) and in creating an integrated and prosperous unit out of the monastery's dispersed properties. He spent one and a half years in Jtaly for the IVth Lateran council, when he took the opportunity to study constructions in progress there, and on his return spurred the builders on to complete their work. He was successful in repulsing the Mongol attack in 1241.

Many men and women were given hospitality and asylum at Pannonhalma over the centuries. Godefroy and his Crusaders stayed there on their way to the Holy Land. Throughout the Ottoman occupation (1526-1686> the monastery shielded many fugitives from persecution, as it did once again in 1944-45.

ln 1472 the king took over the monastery for his own use and undertook an extensive renovation. The present cloister and other buildings with a religious function were built, despite the fact that there was only a handful of monks in residence. After the defeat of the Hungarian forces by Süleyman the Magnificent at Moha cs in 1526, the monastery was fortified. However, monastic life became difficult; the monastery was badly damaged by fire and largely abandoned by the monks in 1575, and it was occupied by the Turks in 1594. The community returned in 1638, but it was not to recover until Mathias Palfy became Abbot in 1683. The Baroque elements of the monastery, such as the refectory, were added in the 18th century du ring the Abbacy of Benedek Sajghó. Plans for the demolition of the entire enceinte in order to construct a monumental monastery came to nothing with the dissolution of 1786.

The "Enlightenment" of the 18th century had its impact on the monastic communities, which were judged according to their contribution to the state. Accordingly, Joseph II closed all the Benedictine houses in Hungary in 1786. some of the monks continued their teaching work, whilst ethers moved into parish pastoral work. The Order was re-established in 1802, on condition that it undertook secondary education. In most cases the monks moved out into houses in neighbouring towns and the monastic buildings were turned over to education, but at Pannonhalma monastic life continued, with the school being incorporated into the monastery itself.

As the needs of society changed, the monks moved outside the confines of the monastery to serve the needs of their neighbours. During and after the Turkish occupation they were active in re-establishing villages and reorganizing agriculture as well as developing the ecclesiastical structure. From the 16th century onwards they acted as spiritual counsellors to the parishes on their lands, something which continued even after the nationalizations of 1950. Education was always one of their major preoccupations, both the training of postulants to the Order and higher education for existing members.

A new library was added at the beginning of the 19th century, and there was a major reconstruction of the cloister and church in 1868-76. A secondary school and students' house were added in 1939-41, the gift of the Italian government of the period. At the present time there are 360 secondary students, taught by eleven Benedictine monks assisted by some thirty lay teachers. There are in all 68 monks at Pannonhalma, where ether activities include a theological academy and an institution for old people.