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Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Pannonhalmas most notable landmark, one of the oldest historical monuments in Hungary, the Pannonhalma Benedictine Archabbey can be found next to the town, on top of a hill (282 m). ...

History

In 996 Prince Géza settled monks from Bohemia on the Sacred Mount of Pannonia. The monastery erected in honour of Saint Martin of Tours had become the eastern bridgehead of medieval European culture as the Prince intended. Even Saint Stephen (1000-1038), the first Hungarian king was a frequent guest within its walls. Events March/April - Pope John XV dies before being being able to coronate Otto III, King of Germany as Holy Roman Emperor. ... Bohemia. ... Position of the Roman province of Pannonia Pannonia is an ancient country bounded north and east by the Danube, conterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. ... St. ... Location within France Tours Cathedral: 15th century Flamboyante Gothic west front with Renaissance pinnacles, 1547 Tours Cathedral. ... Saint Stephen, Protomartyr, depicted by Carlo Crivelli in 1476 with three stones and the martyrs palm. ...

Abbot Uros (1207-1243), the commissioner of the still existing church fought off the Mongols from the walls of the monastery-stronghold. In the time of Abbot Máté Tolnai Pannonhalma acquired a distinguished position among the Hungarian Benedictine monasteries and in 1541 it became an archabbey. During one and a half centuries of the Turkish Occupation, the monks, however, had to flee for shorter or longer periods of time. Only later could they start the reconstruction of the damaged buildings. During the time of Archabbot Benedek Sajghó a major baroque construction was in progress in the monastery. Uros island Uros refers to a group of about 40 floating islets located in Lake Titicaca off Puno, Peru as well as to the pre-Inca people who fashioned them. ... The Mongols are an ethnic group that originated in what is now Mongolia, Russia, and China. ... Pannonhalma is a small town in western Hungary, in Győr-Moson-Sopron county with approx. ... Events The first official translation of the entire Bible in Swedish February 12 - Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago de Chile. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ...

The 18th century, the era of the Enlightment also influenced the life of the monasteries. The state and the monarchs judged the operation of the communities according to immediate utility, and basically they found only those orders justifiable which practised nursing and education. Since the tradition represented by the Rule of Saint Benedict does not place the emphasis on the work of the community but on community life itself, Joseph II, in 1786, supressed all the monasteries of the Hungarian Benedictine Congregation. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... This article is about Saint Benedict of Nursia, for other uses of the name Benedict see Benedict (disambiguation) Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. ... Joseph II may refer to either: Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... 1786 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

The order was restored in 1802 and received secondary education as its primary field of activity. --69. ...

After 1945 the properties of the Order and the schools run by the Benedictines were confiscated by the communist state. From 1950 on, however, the government permitted the secondary schools in Győr and in Pannonhalma to function again. Even in those hard times the community remained devoted to the service of God. 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... The longest lasting of the western Catholic monastic orders, the Benedictine Order traces its origins to the adoption of the monastic life by St. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... GyÅ‘r (German: Raab, Slovak: Ráb) is the most important city of Northwest-Hungary, the capital of GyÅ‘r-Moson-Sopron county and lies on one of the important roads of Central Europe, halfway between Budapest and Vienna. ...

The Archabbey has been engaged in the renewal of the liturgy following the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council. A workshop of monks prepares the Hungarian translation of the monastic Liturgy of Hours with tunes and melodies fitting to the Hungarian psalm texts. The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, (Vatican two) was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ...

Since the end of communism in Hungary, the Benedictine community of Pannonhalma, besides continuing educational work, has been trying to find funds to make it possible for them to fulfil their role in the Church and in secular life as well. This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ...

The community

The life of Saint Benedict

We know fairly little about the life of Saint Benedict (ca. 470-547). No related documents have survived from his contemporaries. Nevertheless, 40-50 years following Benedict's death, Pope Saint Gregory the Great, based on the naration of still-alive witnesses, wrote his life in the second part of his work called Dialogues. This however, in acordance with the author's intention, is rather a sequence of short stories and miracles related to Benedict's life. The message Pope Gregory really wishes to convey to his readers is that Benedict –- Blessed in his name and by God's grace (this is the meaning of Benedictus) -– has received all gifts of the Holy Spirit. As for biographical data it is clear from the sequence of narratives that Benedict was born in Nursia (today Norcia) a small city situated among the Sabine mountains, he learnt in Rome but before finishing his studies, repelled by the immoral life there, he retired first to Enfide (today Affide) than further to Sublacum (today Subiaco) in the valley of Anio creek. He had been a hermit there for several years, then gathered disciples in a small monastery. Later, as tradition has it in 529, he went further, and finally settled on the mount of Cassinum (today Monte Cassino) and there he actually founded his monastery. He wrote his set of instructions, the Rule for his community. For the Christian West it was the monks following the Rule of Benedict, who established monasticism.

Sights of the Archabbey

The Basilica and the Crypt

The church is the centre of the life of the monastery, the venue of the Holy Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. The present church of Pannonhalma, a crowning achievement of the early Gothic style, was built at the beginning of the 13th century during the reign of Abbot Uros, and was consecrated most likely in 1224. Recent archeological findings under the floor level of the west end of the basilica shed light on the structure of the first church of the monastery, dating from the 11thcentury. Based on the discovery of remnants of a semicircular crypt, it can be deduced that the first church of Pannonhalma was a basilica with a double shrine and a double crypt. The width of the excavated crypt corresponds to that of the current nave, thus providing credence to the assumption that the original church was comparable in size to the present basilica. The oldest segment currently seen in the basilica is the wall of the southern aisle. Dating from the 12th century, it is a remnant of the second church to stand on the site, consecrated in 1137 during the reign of Abbot Dávid.

During the archeological excavations two walled-up gates were found in the sacristy. One of these could have presumably been the northern entrance of Abbot Dávid's church, while the other that of Abbot Uros'. Also found under the floor between the front altar and the sanctuary steps was a grave, most likely that of Abbot Uros.

The church was extended during the reign of King Matthias, in which the present-day ceiling of the sanctuary, the eastern ends of the aisles and the Saint Benedict chapel were completed. During the Turkish occupation the furnishings were entirely destroyed. The most significant renovation after the occupation started in the 1720s, under Archabbot Benedek Sajghó. Ferenc Storno was the last to undertake a major renovation of the church in the 1860.s. At this time the main altar, the pulpit, the frescoes of the ceiling, and the upper-level stained glass window depicting Saint Martin were added.

The Porta Speciosa and the Cloister

In the Middle Ages one of the main entrances to the church was the Porta Speciosa (ornate entrance). This portal leads to the church from the so-called cloister (quadrum or quadratura) and it was crafted also in the 13th century.

The monks used to enter the church for service through the Porta Speciosa after congregating in the cloister. As it is known from the Revelations of St. John, Heavenly Jerusalem has got twelve elaborate gates (with the names of the Lamb's twelve apostles). One of these twelve gates was built in the monastery so that the monks, when going for prayer, could enter the church as if they were entering Heavenly Jerusalem.

In the Renaissance Pannonhalma was rather depopulated (with not more than 6 or 7 monks). In 1472 King Matthias claimed the abbey. Under his rule major constructions were started. Also today's cloister was created at that time. The constructions were probably finished in 1486, as it is testified by the inscription on one of the cornerstones. The work was presumably conducted by craftsmen of the Visegrád Royal Workshop of Construction.

The small inner garden surrounded by the cloister was also called Paradisum (Paradise) metaphorically creating an earthly imitation of Biblical Paradise. In medieval times mainly herbs were grown here so that those in need would recover the body in its wholeness and health as it was in Paradise.

The Library

Besides the tower and the grammar school one of the most impressive buildings of the archabbey complex is the library. Though the edifice itself was finished in the first third of the 19th century, the idea it represents is fifteen-hundred years old. Saint Benedict lay such a heavy emphasis on reading in monastery life that the work of the monks preserved not only the Christian literature of the early centuries, but also works of the Greco-Roman civilisation. At the same time it created the culture of Europe including our homeland.

The longitudinal part of the building was planned and built by Ferenc Engel in the 1820s. Later János Packh was commissioned with extending the edifice, and the oval hall is his work. Joseph Klieber, a Vienna master was asked to ornament the interior of the building. On the four sides of the oval hall's ceiling the allegories of the four medieval university faculties can be seen: Law, Theology, Medicine and the Arts. It was also he who created the plaster statues of kings (Saint Stephen, the Founder and Francis I, the Restorer), which were recently placed back to their original location. The central painting of the longitudinal hall depicts Pallas Athene (Minerva). On the two shorter walls the portraits of ancient philosophers and scientists can be seen while on the longitudinal walls we find portraits of the outstanding figures of Hungarian cultural history. The selection of the depicted persons reflects the spirit of the age. The persons that not named great minds of the 19th century Reform Era in Hungary.

At the end of the 11thcentury as it is testified by a manuscript (c 1090) from the time of Saint László already 80 volumes (about 200 works) were catalogued in Pannonhalma. At the dissolution of 1786 the collection consisted of 4000 volumes of which in 1802 only 757 volumes and 27 manuscripts were returned to the library of the monastery. The rooms needed to store the books were not many in number. At the beginning, however, the holdings dramatically increased. That was when the construction of a new library was decided. The holdings of the library have been increasing ever since. As of today, 360 000 volumes are kept in the collection.

The Baroque Refectory

In the 18thcentury Archabbot Benedek Sajghó (1722-1768) had the Carmelite brother Atanáz Márton Witwer design the baroque elements of the monastery. The refectory, which deserves the most attention from an artistic-historic point of view, was built in the middle of the eastern wing. The construction of the two-storey high, rectangular shaped hall with cavetto vault probably dates to the second half of the 1720s. The paintings (secco) on the walls were painted between 1728 and 1730 by Davide Antonio Fossati, a Swiss artist who later settled in Venice. The secco on the ceiling depicts the apotheosis of King Saint Stephen. The six well-known Biblical scenes on the side-walls are thematically connected to eating: the offering of vinegar to Christ on the Cross; the temptation of Jesus in the desert; Daniel in the lions' lair; the feast of King Balthasar; the decapitation of Saint John, the Baptist; and a scene from the life of Saint Benedict.

The baroque refectory belongs to the more reserved living space of the monastic community and is not open to the general public.

The Millennium Monument

In order to celebrate the millennium of the Magyars' settlement in 896, seven monuments were erected in the Carpathian Mountain Basin in 1896. One of them can still be seen today in Pannonhalma.

The edifice was originally covered by a 26-metre high, double-shell dome with a colossal brass relief on it representing the Hungarian royal crown. Due to its deterioration, however, the outer shell had to be dismantled in 1937-1938, and the building took its present form. Two windows shed light on the interior, a circular, undivided room covered by a low dome (i.e. the original inner shell). The unfinished fresco decorating the eastern wall is an allegorical vision of the Foundation of the Hungarian state and was painted by Vilmos Aba Novák in 1938.

Our Lady Chapel

The construction of the Our Lady Chapel was begun in 1714. Originally it was a place of worship for the non-native population living in the vicinity of the abbey. The chapel, with its three baroque altars and small, 18th-century organ, was renovated in 1865, at which time the romantic ornamentation of the walls and the portal took place.

The crypt beneath the church has served as the burial place of the monks for centuries.

The Arboretum (Botanical Garden)

Monks in ancient times grew and collected herbs with great care for the benefit of the sick. Data demonstrating scientific examination and landscaping of the monastery's natural environs reach back centuries.

In 1830 as many as 80 tree and bush species were to be found on the Archabbey's lands. It was through the design of Fábián Szeder in the 1840's that the current form of the arboretum took shape.

Today the arboretum has several hundreds of tree and bush species, many of which are rare species and varieties in Hungary.

The arboretum of the Archabbey is a place for recreation and relaxation, but it is also home to educational work and scientific research. In addition to these values, the area also has a rich songbird population.

The Archives

In the Pannonhalma Archives of the Benedictine Archabbey we can find one of the richest and most valuable collections of documents from the first centuries of the Hungarian statehood. It includes the monastery's interpolated charter (1001-1002) from Saint Stephen, the founding charter of the Tihany Abbey (1055), the first known written text to include Hungarian words and phrases. The records of the medieval Pannonhalma, a monastery with the rights to issue official documents (locus authenticus), and the records of the Bakonybél, the Tihany and the Dömölk abbeys constitute separate entities. The archive collects documents from the archabbot's office, the Theological School and the former Teacher Training School of the order, the former and current secondary schools, the dependent Benedictine houses, the finance offices of the Archabbey, and from the documentation of the parishes that belong to the so called Territorial Abbey: a quasi-diocese under the authority of the Archabbey. Partially as deposit, partially as inheritance, the archives of the Guary, the Somogyi, the Chernel, the Kende, the Erdődy and the Lónyay families came into our collection. The amount of the archive's holdings is 192 running metres.

The Boarding School of Pannonhalma

The history of the school

The construction of the boarding school started in 1939. Prime Minister Pál Teleki and Krizosztom Kelemen, the Archabbot of the time wanted to set up an "Italian" secondary school in which teaching the Italian language and culture would receive heavy emphasis.

In the very beginning children would come here at the age of ten, there would be twenty-five students in a class, and the school would be eight-year-long. It was an entirely genuine step in the history of the Hungarian and the local Benedictine schools to build the school and the student's lodgings together. The community of the students who went to the same class stayed together in the dormitory, lived in the same rooms, and the form teacher would be in most cases a dormitory teacher (prefect) as well.

The school of Pannonhalma was brought under state control in June 1948, and the corridors connecting the school with the monastery were walled up. The school as a Benedictine grammar school could reopen in 1950 and was one of the eight Catholic secondary schools which could survive even during the years of Communism in Hungary.

The school today

From the end of the Communist regime on there are two parallel systems of education in operation in the Secondary Boarding School of Pannonhalma: a four-year one and a six-year one. Both of them accept applications from would-be students.

In 1995 the building of the school was entirely renovated bearing in mind that the students of the secondary school are also members of the boarding school, so they are together not only in the morning classes but the whole day as well.

It is still an all-boy school. Students come from all regions of the country and sometimes even from across the border.

Set of values in the school

The Rule of Saint Benedict does not contain either theological or anthropological or pedagogical theory. It describes, organises and regulates the "processes of life". In his teachings Saint Benedict primarily addresses the monks whom he urges to build and deepen their relationship with Christ by living in community. The way he transplants the message of the New Testament to exact processes of life, the struggle of life and human coexistence, however, could be relevant not only for the monks but also for everyone attempting to realise a Christian concept of education.

The Benedictine Boarding School in Pannonhalma finds the achievements of Benedictine education so far important, yet it does not intend to be a so-called museum piece. Nor does it define its purpose solely in maintaining this respectable heritage, but also it is ready to face challenges that move, upset and threaten our world.

All the teachers and educators of the school are well aware of the fact that students growing up in the school do not go back to a closed Christian society but to a secularised world. This might be the reason why they find it even more important that the school not be reduced to an "educational institution" providing mere knowledge. Besides successful teaching, we aim to remain a place for education, too.

In the Benedictine School of Pannonhalma monks and laymen work together as equal partners.

The winery of Pannonhalma Archabbey

The history of the winery

The Benedictine monks who settled in Pannonhalma have been closely connected to growing grapewines and wine-making. They cultivated the most developed wine-making practices of the age. In the early 1900s the size of the abbey's property nearby Pannonhalma was about 1 square kilometre, moreover the abbey possessed property also in Somló and at the foothills of Tokaj. Even at that time they sold their bottled red and white wines, which have reached beyond the boundaries of the historical Hungary.

Social and political reshuffle following World War II made it impossible to continue the centuries-old traditions, since both the properties and the winery were taken over by the state. In the following decades the monks living in Pannonhalma did not give up resuscitating traditions. In the year 2000 the plans started to take shape which led to the 2003 building of the Winery of the Pannonhalma Archabbey with majority holding of the Pannonhalma Archabbey and minority holding of the Hungarian Bank of Foreign Trade. The winery is situated on a 2000 m² plot with a capacity of 3000 hls.

The CZITA Construction Office of Győr performed the drawing up of the blueprints in firm cooperation with Gál Tibor, an internationally renown winemaker, who provided technological design for the winery and is also the professional advisor to the enterprise.