Temple in the rock and monastery of the Order of Pauline
In 1250, the Esztergom canon Blessed Ezheb (Boldog Özséb esztergomi kanonok) called on the community of Bishop Bartholomew from the city of Pecs and his own followers, hermit monks who lived on Mount Patach and Pilis, to unite and form a new order, called the Order of St. Paul. These were the monks who shared the ideals of the hermit life of the early Christians, so the new order received the name of Paul of Thebes, the saint of the 4th century, who is considered the first Christian hermit monk.
In 1526, Turkish troops capturing Hungary sacked and then burned 11 Pauline monasteries and brutally killed more than 25 monks. Paulins joined the ranks of defensive units near Visegrád, who defended the Holy Hungarian crown.
In September, Turkish troops looted and burned the central Pauline monastery along with the monastery library, where valuable church books were kept. The relics of the Holy Pal, which they tried to save in Trenchen, also turned to ashes.
Beginning in 1541, the remaining Pauline monasteries were rapidly empty. The monks returned there only after the end of Turkish rule.
In the 18th century, Paulines were persecuted by the authorities of the Habsburg Empire, and many monasteries in Austria, Bohemia and Hungary were closed. This led to the fact that the center of life of the order, and subsequently all the Pauline monasteries, moved to Poland. At the beginning of the 20th century, the order was on the verge of extinction; it had only two Polish monasteries left. However, the 20th century was a period of revival of the order, the number of Polish monasteries increased, and cloisters in other countries were again founded.
In 1931, according to the project of Kalman Lux (dr. Lux Kálmán) in Budapest, a temple (Sziklatemplom) was built in the cave of St. Ivan.
St. Ivan's Cave is one of the extensive network of caves under Gellert Hill. The cave is named after the hermit who once lived in it and used the thermal waters of an underground lake to treat patients.
