Church of the Virgin Mary

The village was already mentioned in the charter of the Szentmárton Benedictine Order from 1001 as the village of the abbeys. Its parish was first mentioned in written sources in 1362. The foundation stone of the church dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin was laid by the abbot on 6 June 1749. The work was completed on 19 June 1750. This simple, timberframed building without a tower stood on the site of the current church’s transept. Its sanctuary was where today’s sacristy stands, where fragments of old frescoes can still be seen. The current church was built and consecrated in 1872. The high alter and the early Baroque pulpit arrived in Nyalka at the same time as the Storno renovation of the Pannonhalma monastery. The altar of St Benedict is the work of the Adami stone carving dynasty, who were active around Como. The high altarpiece was created by Austrian painter Carl Gutsch in 1872. The body of the pulpit is separated by twisted columns and features statues of the four apostles and Christ in shell-shaped recesses. The statue of St Michael defeating the dragon on the pulpit’s crown is an excellent sculptural work. The former ornate gate of the Pannonhalma Basilica, Porta Speciosa, also found its way here. This gilded, panelled door with two brown and black wings, through which you can enter the sacristy from the main nave, is excellent carpentry work from the first quarter of the 18th century.