Arboretum and Conservation Area of Pannonhalma

Pannonhalma, Hungary, Hungary

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The Arboretum and Conservation Area of Pannonhalma is a 22-hectare protected botanical garden and nature reserve located behind the Pannonhalma Archabbey on the northern slope of Szent Márton Hill, integral to the Benedictine monks' daily life since the monastery was founded in 996.

Monks have cultivated medicinal herbs since the abbey's foundation, and the current arboretum was created starting in 1830 by Benedictine monk Fábián Szeder, who established an English garden in line with the customs of that time. Today the area contains over a thousand plant species and nearly 150 bird species, including hundreds of tree and shrub species with rare varieties found only in a few places in Hungary, harvesting 400 tree species in its collection spanning five continents.

The arboretum was declared a nature conservation area in 1963, and in 1996 it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List together with the Archabbey buildings and the Medicinal Plant Garden. An integral part includes a 10-hectare lavender plantation and medicinal herb garden tended by monks for centuries, and in 2021 Hungary's first interactive Fragrance Museum opened here where visitors can learn interactively about the cultivated medicinal plants.

The site is free to visit from 9 AM to 5 PM, serving as a place of recreation and relaxation while also functioning as a regular educational and research site with a modern manufactory and distillery producing essential oils and cosmetics.