Szentgotthárd Abbey
In Hungarian: Szentgotthárdi ciszterci apátság; German: Kloster Sankt Gotthard; Latin: Abbatia Sancti Gotthardi, Slovene: Monoštrska cistercijanska opatija, Prekmurje Slovene: Monošterski cistercijánski klošter) The first Szentgotthárd church and abbey was built in 1183 and demolished in 1604.
In 1183, Hungarian King Béla III (1173–1196) founded a monastery in honor of Saint Gotthard at the confluence of the Rába and Lapincs rivers.
Twelve Cistercian monks from Trois-Fontaines Abbey, France arrived in Hungary to staff the new Szentgotthárd monastery.
The king hoped that the monks would provide technical aid to local farmers and also found new settlements in the area.
This right at first merely meant that on the occasion of war or other fighting the warriors of the monastery marched under the Széchy's banner and they had a say in electing the abbot.
György Széchenyi, archbishop of Kalocsa, acquired the Szentgotthárd monastery right of presentation from Leopold I, King of Hungary (1640–1705) .
The second church contained three altars in the single nave: in honour of Saint Gotthard, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary.
Two laymen had an important role in embellishing of the monastery and the baroque church of Szentgotthárd: the painter Matthias Gusner and the carpenter and woodcarver Kaspar Schretzenmayer.
The characters in large lettering (known as a chronostikon) in the Roman inscription on one side of the picture conceal the year of the battle: 1664.
The English translation of the legend: “The Moon is spread out on the ground by the arms of King Lipót” (Leopold I, 1640–1705, also Holy Roman Emperor), and on the opposite side: “As the foe of the faith ran routed by Thee, so let this place be in safety under Thy protection, Our Lady.” The second vault-section, in the centre of the church, has a fresco painted by Matthias Gusner (1694–1772): “The Triumph of the Crucifix”.
As a Cistercian custom, the church's painting of the high altar illustrates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
One of the angels is holding a sign in his hand preaching a moral lesson: “lo and behold, the way a just man dies”.
In the middle of the oval picture is a painting of a guardian angel, and on the reliefs are the figures of Frances of Rome and St. Wendelin.
The pulpit was manufactured in the workshop of Kaspar Schretzenmayer The glass coffin contains St. Vincent martyr's relic-skeleton.
The benches and the sacristy's dressing cupboards were carved by Schretzenmayer The sculptures of the church are the works of Joseph Schnitzer (1707–1769), a Cistercian sculptor from Heiligenkreuz.
