Pannonhalma Archabbey – The most remarkable historical place in Hungary

The Benedictine Pannonhalma Archabbey or Territorial Abbey of Pannonhalma has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sights since 1996. It is one of the most monumental buildings in Hungary, which is worth visiting at least once. 

The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, first arrived in Hungary in 996 for the calling of Géza Grand Prince of the Hungarians the father of the first Hungarian king St. Stephen. In Pannonhalma, they first built small, simple sacred places out of wood, sand and clay. 

By the time their first church was built in the country Géza had died and his son St. Stephen inaugurated the Benedicts first religious building in the country. 

Their monastery burned down at the beginning of the 12th century and was rebuilt in 1137. The building of the new monastery in the centre of the building complex was born in the 13th century and was designed to protect the people against the Mongols who started their invasion in 1241. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the monastery began to grow with additional settlements and adding abandoned villages and fields to its area. 

The monastery became an archabbey in 1541, and as a result of Ottoman incursions into Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was fortified.