TIHANY ABBEY (TIHANYI APÁTSÁG)

In 1055, King André I of Hungary founded an abbey for the Benedictine nuns. The foundation charter is written in Latin, but contains more than 70 words in Hungarian, making it the first Hungarian document. The abbey is now transformed into a museum. The vaulted Romanesque crypt, supported by heavy pillars, has been able to cross intact from the centuries to the present. King André's tomb is in the crypt. The Baroque church, with its two towers with characteristic bulbs, was erected between 1719 and 1754, after the departure of the Turkish occupier. The interior is the work of an Austrian cabinetmaker, Sebastian Stuhlhoff. A remarkable statue of Saint Jerome decorated the Baroque Chair.