Art memorials of Tihany

1. Baroque church and convent of the Benedictine Abbey

The baroque church, built under supervision of abbot Ágoston Lécs, is 46m long, 16m wide and has two towers of 34.5m height which puts it among the medium-sized churches of Hungary. Its interior decoration was constructed by wood-carver and cabinet-maker Sebastion Stulhoff between 1754 and 1779. The furnishings and the gilded wooden sculptures are excellent pieces of the Central European baroque art, just as the frescos painted by Károly Lotz, Bertalan Székely, Lajos Deák-Ébner during the restoration works in 1889-1890. The interior was fully restored by 1996, after the church was returned to the Benedictine Abbey in 1994.The inner restoration of the church (frescos, altars, etc.) began 1992 and ended four years later. 1996 marks the start of an all-around restoration of the monastery. The friary, built simultaneously with the church, houses the Benedictine Abbey Museum. The single-storey square building connects to the south wall of the church, its wings encompassing a square inner court. Between October 26- 31, 1921 the friary also gave home to the last monarch of Hungary, King Karl Habsburg 4th and Queen Zita when they were interned to the premises of the abbey by the Entente Powers prior to being exiled to the Island of Madeira. The abbey celebrated its 950th  jubilee in 2005. It is host to concerts in the summer and exhibitions and cultural programs over the rest of the year. The museum regularly offers seasonal exhibitions.

2. Crypt of King Andrew I
The roman hall crypt, which was built by King Andrew I. at the time when the monasetry was founded in 1055, is the only original royal burial place in Hungary that remained intact. Here lies the king, who died in 1060. Guards a copy of the deed of foundation for the abbey, which is also our earliest linguistic relic.

3. Calvinist church, belfry
The Calvinist church, built in 1793, is a simple building with a square groundplan. The belfry, standing on four white columns and covered with shingle, is located west of the church building. 4. Former wine cellar and press-house of the Abbey Vine growing around Balaton dates back to Roman times. Tihany became significant winedistrict at the time of the foundation of the monasetry. The cellar with a unique double cross groundplan and the classicist press-house were built at the northern shore of Belsõ-tó in 1822 for processing and storing the vine grown in the property of the Abbey. The cellar has excellent wine also today.

5. Former granary of the Abbey
The granary built in the 19th century is the largest building of the village. It was two storeys, it is rough-casted and divided by white ribbons and window-frames according to the local tradition. Presently it serves as community centre. This renovated building now serves as the town's community center.

6. Former inn of the Abbey
The inn built in the early 19th century played an important role in the community life of the village. It was recently rebuilt and Fogas Csárda is very popular with tourists also today.

7. Former house of the physician of the Abbey
The present post office building used to be the dwelling house of the physician of the Abbey. The single-storey building was built in simplified neo-classic style in the 19th century with 1-3-1 window-arrangement. Four massive pillars give relief to the three windows in the middle.

8. Former Hotel Sport
Hotel Sport, which was built in 1923. Regrettably, the once fairest building of the spa now stands forlorn. A well tended and shady park surrounds it.

9. Former farmstead of the Abbey
In the property of the Tihany Abbey, allodial farming has been taking place since the 18th century. The buildings of the former farmstead were built at the shore of Belso-tó next to the village in eighteen thirties. The sheepshed and the barn with eleve columns are still original. They are used as a workshop by the students of the Art College each summer. The renovated buildings of the cattle-shed are used for
cultural purposes by Körösi Csoma Foundation. The former servant's quarters are refurbished and used as dwelling houses.

10. Balaton Limnology Research Institute
The Institute was founded for Balaton research and special biological research. The five pavilion swere was built according to the designs of István Kotsis in 1926-27.

11. Summer castle of Archduke Joseph Habsburg
The beautiful building, located at a 4 acre park, was designed
also by István Kotsis. It was built as a summer castle for
Archduke Joseph Habsburg in 1924-25.

12-20. Relics of the folk architecture, and peasant houses
The traditional culture of Tihany,

which dates back to the Middle Ages, was alive until the nineteen-fifties. The typical
inhabitants of the village working at the properties of the fortress and the Abbey were poor people and this fact is expressed in their architecture. It was not unusual that several small peasant's houses were built on one single site. The houses were bulit without a chimney – the smoke exhausted from the central kitchen ('smoky kitchen') through the roof and the door until, in the 19th century, socalled free-chimney kitchens were built. Next to the kitchen there was one room on the one side and a larder, a barn and a shed on the other side. The kitchen was heated by oven, the rooms by tile stove fired with coal. The walls were whitewashed wattled plaster or stone wall of basaltic tuff with characteristic grey colour. The roof was thatched with reeds. The furniture was made of hardwood and served several generations. Some of the peasant houses with original furniture can be visited by the tourists (Parasztgazda house and Halászcéh house along Pisky walking way, Pottery house at the end of the Batthyány J. street) other are still occupied or serve other tourist purposes

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