Zirc - a Bakony fővárosa

Upon invitation of King Béla III, Cistercian fathers from Clairvaux (France) came to Bakony to build their church and monastery on the large land and to develop an economic and intellectual culture for the secular population.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the monks built their church and monastery without tower in early Gothic style. The building famous throughout Europe has lost its function during the Ottoman reign because its residents were forced to flee. The lonely building in the centre of Bakony was not so damaged in 150 years that it couldn’t have been restored.

The German Cistercians from Heinrichau organising the re-establishment of Zirc have built a new home for themselves, the building complex of the Baroque church and the Classical monastery of our days. Based on the approach ‘It was liked by the old ones but not the young ones’, the walls of the medieval church and monastery still standing were destroyed. In the Köztársaság street, one of the pillars of the medieval church can be seen with the statue of Saint Emeric and the angels surrounding him. The statue was placed on the pillar in 1749. Under management of the Cistercian monk Tibor Hümpfner, the ruins of the church and monastery were partially excavated in 1913. Unfortunately, there was no financial basis for the conservation and were therefore buried. The drawings and photos of the excavation’s result and the carved stones reflect archaeological values.

In 1958, the ruins were re-excavated and presented.

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