History of the church
The Benedictine abbey-church of Lébény built at the beginning of
the 13th century is one of the most outstanding and most intact
monuments of the Hungarian ecclesiastical architecture of the
Middle Ages. From artistic point of view, the elements of plastic
art decorating its walls are of exceptional value. The Abbey-Church
of Lébény was founded between 1199 and 1203, in honour of Saint
Jacob the Apostle. Their founders, the earl Csépán and Pot, were
bailiffs, descendents of the dynasty of Gyor. The church is built
in a Lombard style with a nave and two side aisles with the
interruption of a transept. The nave and the two aisles end with
Apsis of round arches. At the western side you can find two bell
towers. The lordship gallery is situated between the two towers.
Several parts of the church show very impressive Norman and
Cistercian characteristics, such as the main portal and the
southern side portal. The southern portal was reserved for the
monks of the attached abbey. This church was promoted as the
“prototype” for family churches in West Hungary (for
example the church of Ják nearby Szombathely).
The church survived the Mongolian storm, but during the battles
with the Turks the attached abbey of the Benedictine was demolished
and the church was heavily damaged. Mainly the western part, the
nave, the two aisles and the massive towers survived the battles.
During the major reconstruction of the church at the middle of 19th
Century the northern tower and the Rhenish pyramidal tower roof
were added. The western and southern portals still show the
original plant ornaments and the angel relief. Inside at the
western part the original ripped vault below the lordship gallery
and in the nave the columns with the burgeon capital outlasted the
time. At the year 1631 the Baroque arches was built in by the
Jesuits of Györ. Between 1860 and the end of 1870 the church was
renovated by the director of the German National Museum of
Nuremberg. The glass windows were made by Lili Sztéhló at 1953.
Usefull informations
The cache is available 24 hours the whole year. In the past the
church opens its doors during the day between March and September.
Unfortunatly it opens for mass only now. During this closing time
visits can be arranged between 09:00 and 17:00 via phone (+36-(70)
5047-406). At the moment it looks like, that the church opens
during the day only if you call the number and someone comes with a
key. They are asking for an entrance fee too now. :-( For adults
400 HUF and for pupils, students or retired people 250 HUF. If you
pay in Euro you have to give 2 Euro per person (strange exchange
rate).
For more informations: www.lebeny.hu
version 2.0 (02.04.2009): The cache was muggled. New cache
box and new log book is in place. Hint was changed a bit. "Usefull
informations" were actualized.
Version 3.0 (03.10.2009): The cache was muggeld again. New
cache and new logbook (#3) at the new place. Accuracy of the GPS
was +/- 6m. Hint was actualized.
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