Monastery

Celldömölk monastery may have been built at the end of the 12th century, or at the beginning of the 13th. Traditionally it is believed that the foundation of the monastery is connected to King Béla III, but there are no reliable sources to prove this. The monastery was dedicated to the Holy Virgin, and the first reference about it dates back to 1252. This medieval abbey had a small one-nave church with one tower on the West and a semi-circular apse on the East. It served as a locacredibilia between 1332–1356 (or longer); 20 charters survived up to this present day. Just like many other smaller Benedictine monasteries, it belonged to Pannonhalma in the 16th century. As the ecclesiastical service for the two villages that were formed around the abbey stopped, Celldömölk was abandoned in 1560. Consequently, the situation had not changed until 1681 when a Lutheran church was built. In the 18th century monks returned to the abbey, but could not use the same site anymore. Also the miraculous statue that was taken by the monks, when they run away, could not be brought back later. So a solution was copying the famous one of Mariazell (Austria) and placing it in the new Baroque church which was consecrated in 1748. Also many details of the new church follow the ones of Mariazell. Due to the Joseph II’s religious Intolerances reforms in 1782, and the communist regime in the 1950, the site was desolated twice. Today,the building of the late monastery is now the town hall of Celldömölk, and the 18th century frescos and stuccos of the interior are still visible.‏