Budapest, Pauline Monastery and Rock Chapel

The church carved in rock in 1926 as imitation of the cave of Lourdes at the southern slope of Gellért Hill, and the Pauline monastery built in 1934 are important stages in the twentieth-century reorganisation movement of the order. In spite of the frequent dissolutions, the Paulines started again their activity in 1989 in their monastery at Buda. Their chapel is one of the most interesting ecclesiastical monuments of the capital.

The Pauline order founded by Hungarians had monasteries at Budaszentlõrinc, close to Buda, and at a part of Óbuda called Fehéregyháza. These monasteries were destroyed in the period of the Turkish Occupation, and the returning monks founded their new monastery in Pest at the site of the later university church. Joseph II. dissolved the order in 1786.

In the Modern Age several intents of reorganisation were made, in vain. Between the two World Wars the Paulines of Poland supported this reorganisation effort. This is the period when finally, the Pauline monastery on the southern slope of the Gellért Hill and the chapel carved in rock in 1926, designed by Károly Lux imitating the cave of Lourdes, were built. This latter was consecrated in honour of Our Lady of the Hungarians. The Romantic style monastery was designed by Károly Weichinger in 1934. After World War II. the order was again dissolved and the artificial cave of the chapel were walled up. The monastery worked as hall of residence for the students of the Institute of the Hungarian State Ballet.

The order restarted its activity here in 1989, and the Rock Chapel was restored. The way from the church to the monastery leads through the chapel consecrated to Saint Stephen. The Rock Chapel consists of two parts; one of them is named after Saint Iván a hermit who had once lived in the natural upper cave, while the lower part is an artificially made system of caves.

This latter is the place where the relic of Saint Paul the Hermit, a small piece of his bone, is safeguarded over the altar. The chapel is decorated with the motives of an ancient Christian chapel discovered in the desert of Thebes by Hungarian archaeologists.
More Information on Hungarian Monasteries: Hungarian Monastic Cultural Route