Zirc Abbey

The Zirc Cistercian Abbey is located in western Hungary, 25km from Veszprem, 55km from Gyor, and 35km from Lake Balaton. The settlement of Zirc is also called the capital of the Bakony Hill, as it is the highest-laying town in the country.
III. Bela, the Hungarian king established the Cistercian Monastery in the heart of the Bakony in 1084. In the 12th century, a Roman-Gothic style building was established here, which was destroyed at the time of the Turkish invasion. Today�s abbey, the monastery and the church were built between 1732 and 1752. The originally Baroque-style building was extended over time, the Classicist façade was put into place in the middle of the 19th century. Today, the building complex serves as a library and a museum. The Bakony Natural Science Museum can be visited all year around, every day except for Monday.