Astonishing church gardens

After the fall and disintegration of the Roman Empire, not only architecture but also garden design underwent a huge transformation. The garden culture of ancient societies was destroyed by the ravages of the migrations. In medieval Europe, it was not possible to build villas, gardens and parks outside fortified settlements. Monastic gardens were the first forerunners of early medieval horticultural culture, mainly for cultivation and to provide food and medicinal herbs for monasteries, but they also had aesthetic functions from the very beginning.

The oldest and most influential monastic movement in the West in the early-medieval period was the Benedictine order. Monasteries were built on a similar model all over Europe, including in our country. One of the most visited places in the country is the Benedictine Abbey of Tihany, where you can get a glimpse of the medieval garden culture. The cloister and the quadrum, a special space of the monasteries, was not just a courtyard, but a sacred space that carries a very significant message: how the European Christian man views nature, the created world, his own role in the universe.

The symbols can also be found in other spaces: the southern garden is an orchard with ornamental pears, cordon pears, quince, pomegranate and fig trees planted along the wall. On the stone door of the monastery, the angel on the right is holding a pear, the symbol of Christ in Christian iconography. The centre of the Rege courtyard is decorated with a pebbled “seed of life” motif, found in all cultures, set in a limestone frame. The pavement in front of the church also features the ancient symbol of Christianity, the three interlocking fish, also formed from pebbles.

From the 14th century onwards, the bourgeoisie, strengthened by the boom in trade, gradually discovered its own roots in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, science and art, and built on these traditions to create a whole new worldview: the Renaissance. King Matthias’s Renaissance courts in Buda and Visegrád were famous far and wide, but neither these nor the noble and ecclesiastical gardens that copied them survived because of the Turkish destruction. In fact, it was only in the 18th century that a serious interest in gardens, the need and the possibility to follow European models began to flicker again. This, however, is the era of appearance of the Baroque gardens. Contemporary sources, garden plans and travelogues prove that the so-called “French garden” was a status symbol, not only among the nobility close to Vienna, but also among the high clergy. A few large-scale church ensembles in Eger, Győr, Kalocsa and Majkon, with their European-standard Baroque parks, are good examples of this ambition.

Majk in Komárom-Esztergom County is the former home of the Camaldolese monastic order, famous for its vow of silence, and a Baroque monument that is a curiosity in Europe. The monastery complex was begun next to a medieval church ruin, to meet the needs of the Camaldolese order. In addition to the private gardens of the monks’ cell houses and the garden surrounding the church, the monastery was walled in 1756 and in the second half of the 18th century, a garden with a typical Baroque layout, terraced, divided by retaining walls and steps, decorated with trees and statues, was built. Small buildings, a chapel, fountains and evergreens adorned this garden, some elements of which can still be seen today.

Under the terraces there was a greenhouse and a garden centre. A regularly planted orchard was also attached to the building complex. There was also a mill, a fishpond with many fish, and along the driveway from the lake were large-leaved “stately” elm trees. From 1806 onwards, the garden gradually deteriorated and its structure disintegrated. From the early 1860s, Móric Esterházy made major alterations to the castle complex and the gardens: the then owner added special exotic plants. The road leading up to the castle was lined with chestnut trees, and in front of the façade, large Colorado pines and white alder reminded the traveller of the spirit of the place: it is worth speaking out if it is more precious than the silence we break. The hermitage at the foot of the Vértes Mountains is not only a unique sight and cultural experience, but also a good place to visit.

The Baroque era is also a time of great discoveries and philosophical insights. And just as a seed sown in the ground begins to sprout, freedom of thought was not to be hindered.  A new intellectual trend was bringing fresh air to Europe: the Enlightenment, which was driven by the needs of the bourgeoisie and opened up to nature, to naturalness. Baroque gardens were replaced by landscape gardens. A landscape park was built around the Cistercian Abbey of Zirc between 1722 and 1752.  But it has taken centuries to acquire its present form. 

The abbey was founded in 1182 by King Béla III with French monks. The abbey garden was a wildlife garden at first, and in the early 15th century a fish pond was created next to the Cuha stream. The carefully landscaped area of the Bakony forest was enclosed in 1759, when the bridges over the stream were built. Since the 1840s, rare species have been continuously introduced into the garden. The 20-hectare arboretum is the highest collection garden in the country. One of the locations for early summer firefly walks. The unique beauty of the Europe-famous maple, larch, linden and other collections, the botanical values, the scenery of the stream, the bridges and the lake, the all-season experience of the Abbey gardens can be further enriched by exploring Zirc and other treasures of the Bakony.

Photos: Darabos György, MKA