Pannonhalmi Főapátság Arborétum, Gyógynövénykert - Pannonhalma Archabbey Arboretum and Herbal Garden

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About the Pannonhalmi Főapátság Arborétum, Gyógynövénykert - Pannonhalma Archabbey Arboretum and Herbal Garden

Arboretum
The first garden in Pannonhalma, Hungary was planted around the time the Archabbey was founded at the end of the 10th century. The founder of the order, Saint Benedict writes in his Rule “If it can be done, the monastery should be so situated that all the necessities, such as water, the mill, the garden, are enclosed, and the various arts may be plied inside of the monastery” (RB 66,6). Healing herbs and crops were grown in the monastery garden since its inception.
Fábián Szeder, the mind behind the present day Arboretum was a Benedictine monk who created the English Garden or landscape garden according to the customs of 1830. He kept a horticultural diary for the first decade of the Arboretum between 1831 and 1841in which he carefully documented daily tasks, the species that were planted, weather conditions, etc. As a result of conscious efforts, approx. 80 ornamental tree and shrub species could be found here. At the recommendation of academic Sándor Jávorka, the Nature Conservation Office declared the arboretum a natural preserve in 1963. The record from the assessment drawn up at the time notes 22 coniferous and 130 foliose tree species. In 1992 the area became the Pannonhalma Landscape Protection Area and in 1996 the Arboretum, along with buildings of the Archabbey were added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The collection of flora from five continents is an excellent feature of the 11 acre Pannonhalma Arboretum. Today the garden collection boasts 1300 plant species. Apart from flora, we must also mention the variety of birds that inhabit the area. Today, about 40% of all domestic bird species, that is over 150 kinds of birds, can be observed in the Arboretum.

Herbal Garden
Today, we grow 35 different herbs in plots of our 27-acre garden.
Our most important healing herb is lavender which we produce on 10 acres. In our gardens, you will find both ‘real” lavender and hybrid (Lavandin) lavender. It is likely that there were already a few stalks of the herb grown here in the 18th century. Large-scale production, however, only began in the first half of the 20th century. Today, lavender oil is the main ingredient in the medicinal and cosmetic products we make. Upon reviving monastic traditional medicine and herb production, we have planted four new species of healing herbs since 2009. They are sage, thyme, peppermint, and lemon balm. These are primarily used to produce essential oils and teas. They are also used as ingredients in cosmetic and medicinal products, as well as loose-leaf tea, tea blends. In addition they are used as seasonings in puddings, biscuits, ice cream, and other products (chocolates) in our confectionery.
The garden you see today was planted in 2011 using sixteen plots following the example of Sankt Gallen. It contains several healing herbs and seasoning herbs that can be easily grown in small gardens, such as summer savory, rosemary, peppermint, hyssop, and yarrow.
Apart from our main herbs, in our 28 small plots garden we have: coriander, tarragon, purple coneflower, fennel, white horehound, marigold, basil, clary, lovage, echinacea, milk thistle, and safflower.

Main Address:
Pannonhalmi Főapátság Arborétum, Gyógynövénykert - Pannonhalma Archabbey Arboretum and Herbal Garden
Várkerület
Pannonhalma
9090 Hungary

Telephone: +36 96 570 193
Fax:
URL: https://pannonhalmifoapatsag.hu/
Primary Email: kerteszet@osb.hu