The town of Veszprém is located on a plateau of the Bekony Hills north of Lake Balaton. The bishopric of Veszprém’s foundation charter is dated 1009 and was founded either by Prince Géza, who died in 997, or King St. Stephan. His wife, Queen Gizella, was a founder of the cathedral, which has traditionally served as the place for the coronation and burial of the queens of Hungary. It was the Bishop of Veszprém’s duty to crown the queen, and he became her chancellor from 1224 on.
The bishopric of Veszprém extended across most of Transdanubia. By the fourteenth century it contained about 500 parishes and had jurisdiction over several monasteries. The bishop owned Sümeg and Veszprém castles as well as 80 other estates.
The Gizella Chapel, which contains thirteenth-century frescoes of the apostles, is one of three churches of medieval origin on the plateau.
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The group visits the museum at a city gate |
View of church steeples down this cobbled street heading into the city square of Veszprem. Photo: Levan Natadze |
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Group members admire the Baroque architecture of the buildings surrounding the city square. Photo: Levan Natadze |
Veszprém, outside the Gizella chapel. Well, is anyone in there? L to R: Dmitri, Ralph, Tatiana, Adam, Monika, Rafal, Armen, Mher and Nadia |
Built in honor of St. Martin, this Benedictine abbey celebrated its first millennium in 1996. It was founded in 996 by Prince Géza and received its first deed from King St. Stephan in 1002. Pannonhalma became increasingly known for documenting legal procedures and property transactions by charter, and was granted the right to issue or authorize charters in the early thirteenth century.
During the Mongol invasion, Pannonhalma’s archives were moved first to Gyor, then to Vienna, and thus survived in larger numbers than archives from other medieval Hungarian convents. Family archives and those from other abbeys have been incorporated into the historical archives, which hold some of the earliest surviving examples of written Hungarian. Nor did the Mongols destroy the abbey. The interior is beautiful and includes a neoclassical library containing some 300,000 volumes, making it the largest private library in Hungary.
Transdanubia - Page 7 of 7
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