Sacral sights in the town of Pannonhalma

1. Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary
The church’s foundations date from the 12th-13th century. There was a medieval cemetery around it. Abbot Benedict Sajghó had the church renovated in 1734 and then it was rebuilt in 1879 with the support of Abbot Krizostom Kreus.

2. Everyone’s Way of the Cross
The Way of the Cross was opened in autumn 2014 in the park next to the parish church, behind the statue of St Martin. György Horváth, a local ceramic artist and several enthusiastic citizens were involved in the construction of the privately established Way of the Cross.

3. Holocaust Memorial and Synagogue
The memorial was erected by the Karzat Cultural Centre Foundation in 2004 to commemorate the Jews who were deported from the town and region during World War II. The work of sculptor György Chesslay evokes the gate of the Bechram Synagogue. Behind it is an orthodox synagogue, built at the end of the 19th century, constructed from the donations of Jewish families living in the town and the region at that time.

4. Cemetery
There is a large cross erected in the centre of the cemetery, in use since 1759, to commemorate deceased priests and nuns. The cemetery was also called “Kati Jakab’s Garden” by the beggar (singer and storyteller) living there in the early 1910s. She is also mentioned in a novella by the writer Sándor Dallos, born in Pannonhalma. The southern part of the area is already connected to the Jewish cemetery.

5. Papal Memorial Cross
A cross was erected as a private initiative on the tenth anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Pannonhalma in 1996. The Pándzsa Club Association later replaced it with a new cross, which has since also become a pilgrimage site.

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