Zsámbék is located 30 km west of Budapest, Hungary.
Zsámbék has been inhabited since Paleolithic times. It has seen Celtic, Roman and Avarian populations throughout its history, according to archaeological finds.
The building of the Premonstratensian church begin in 1220.
The church was destroyed and rebuilt a couple of times. It was destroyed in 1241 during the Mongolian invasions, in the XVII century when the Turkish troops occupied it and Hungarians fought for it and also in 1763 by an earthquake.
It was not reconstructed after this horrific event. Settlers from Germany, who came to live in the abandoned village after the Turkish occupation, took the stones from the church and used them for building houses and fences. Many of the church's stones are still present in the walls of older houses.
That’s how it looks like nowadays. Still standing beautifully... By the way, that was the view when I woke up in the mornings in my friend’s house. Yes, snow, every day during my stay there in December. Not bad, right? I thought to share this little peace of the Hungarian culture. :-) (part of the history is taken from WIKIPEDIA)
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| The old village under the church, which become part of the city now |
