Pannonhalma Archabbey stands on a hill above the Hungarian plain, and it has been standing there, in one form or another, for a thousand years. The Benedictine monastery was founded in 996, during the reign of Prince Géza, and its monks helped to bring Christianity to the young Hungarian state. The abbey is called the Mons Sacer Pannoniae, the holy mountain of Pannonia, and the local tradition holds that Saint Martin of Tours was born in the Roman town that stood nearby. UNESCO listed it in 1996, the thousandth anniversary of its foundation.
The building is a mixture of periods. The Romanesque and Gothic church was built over centuries, the cloister is delicate, and the baroque library, housing hundreds of thousands of volumes, is one of the finest in central Europe. The abbey has survived Tatar invasions, Ottoman raids and the communists, who tried to close it, and it still runs a school and a working community of monks. The monks also make wine and lavender products, and the abbey's estate has become a respected wine producer.
The view from the hill takes in the Little Hungarian Plain, a wide patchwork of fields, and on a clear day the Bakony hills to the south and the Alps in the west. The town of Pannonhalma, at the foot, is small and quiet, with a few shops, bakeries and cafés. Visitors arrive in large numbers on weekends, so come on a weekday if you can.
The roads here are gentle, rolling and easy, a pleasant change from the busy motorway that connects Budapest and Vienna a few kilometres to the north. Surfaces are generally good, traffic moderate, and the corners are mild. Spring brings fresh green and fruit blossom, and autumn offers warm light and the smell of harvest. In winter fog may linger on the plain.
Pannonhalma has four thousand people and offers fuel and food, and Győr, eighteen kilometres away, is a big, handsome city with all services. Check abbey visiting hours, since they vary and guided tours are common.