Dear Visitor,

A very warm welcome to Pannonhalma on Saint Martin's Hill through the pages of the Internet! This has been a sacred place for us Hungarians for more than a thousand years. Both Prince Géza, who selected the location for the monks to settle in 996, and King Saint Stephen were convinced that the great bishop of Tours, Saint Martin was born near "Mons Sacer" or "Sacred Mountain".

The monks wished to live the Gospel of Christ through a sprirituality of "ora and labora"—"prayer and labour", thus serving the Hungarian people with their way of life.

The foundation of the monastery was instrumental in the development of the Christian culture in medieval Hungary. It is a "world heritage", indeed, which opens a window onto the reality of God as well as onto the values of universal human culture.

Hereby we present a sense of this rich heritage via the World Wide Web.

It would please us if reading these pages enriched both your spirit and soul, and filled your heart with happiness, freedom and the inspiration of the Mystery, before you return to your occupation, or any other activity temporarily suspended for our sake.( citation:www.bences.hu)