Kesztölc-Klastrompuszta

Ruins of the Holy Cross Pauline Monastery and Church

The Hungarian Pauline Order is the only medieval order founded in Hungary. Eusebius, Canon of Esztergom and later founder of the order, often met with hermits living in the Pilis and in 1246, he resigned from his duties and, with the permission of the Archbishop, also went to live in the Pilis. There, he gathered the hermits together and founded the “First Hermit St Paul Brothers”, making the Hermit St Paul the patron of his namesake order. They built a church and founded a monastery in honour of the Holy Cross under the former hermits’ caves. The 26-metre-long Gothic church was 8 metres wide. The church and monastery were surrounded by a wide perimeter wall, and burials took place in the church. The headquarters of the Order from 1250 to 1304 was Klastrompuszta.Traditionally, every mid-September, a memorial mass commemorating the founders is held on the ruins of the monastery’s church. At this time, the ruins of the former monastery become the centre of the Pauline order once again as visitors from all parts of the country come to commemorate the founders.