Life in the garden
Pannonhalmi Archabbey Arboretum and Medicinal Garden
Hungary
The 22-hectare garden belonging to the abbey has been an integral part of the Benedictine monks' daily life since the monastery was founded in 996. Today, more than a thousand plant species and 150 types of birds live in the freely accessible area.
When the Benedictine abbey was founded in 996, an infirmary (a building intended for nursing) was also created within the walls, which necessarily included a herb garden - this was presumably located in the area of today's garden. The first written evidence of its existence is a certificate dated 1201.
The current Arboretum was founded in 1802, when the Benedictine order opened 8 schools in what was then Hungary, for which the garden served as a natural science training venue. The plants were then grouped according to the various geographical territorial units and climate zones. In 1830, there were already around 80 species of trees and shrubs in the Arboretum, whose English garden character was developed by Fábian Szeder in the 1840s. This area of the actual Arboretum is organically connected to today's Medicinal Garden, which surrounds the building complex of the Main Abbey.
More than a thousand plant species and almost 150 bird species live in the arboretum.
Today, it is primarily a place for refreshment and relaxation, but regular teaching and research work is also carried out here. The institution is also the country's best-known herb growing and processing workshop.
The Arboretum presents well-known and rarely found species in the following territorial units: the Carpathian, Pannonian and Illyrian regions of Europe; eastern and western North America; The Japanese, Chinese and Caucasian areas of Asia, as well as the Mediterranean.
There are also evergreen plots with mainly deciduous trees, a viewing garden, and a walking path accompanied by centuries-old holm oaks, but it is also worth visiting the Millennium Spruce group planted in 1896, and the lavender plantations when they are in full bloom at the end of June.
The area is one of the most valuable elements of the Pannonhalmi Landscape Protection District, part of the World Heritage since 1996. The mass spring flowering of snowdrops and winter cemeteries is extremely spectacular.
The traditional elements of the arboretum are the grottoes, the stone labyrinth and the baroque pavilion. The interesting attractions of the activity around medicinal plants are the medicinal plant oil distillery and the medicinal plant house, which, in addition to the tea room, also houses a medicinal plant cosmetics manufactory. Leading facilities are the biomass heating plant and the solar park.
In addition to the folk and world music concert series, the regular programs of the arboretum include the lavender weeks held in June-July, the herbal blessing on August 15, the August 15-20 Medicinal Plant Week held between 19 and 20 August, and the Monastery and World Heritage Products Fair held on August 19-20.
There are regular guided walks in the garden, and bird ringing is also popular among children.
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