Bakonybél
# Bakonybél

Bakonybél is a village in Veszprém county, Hungary, in Zirc District. A tourist destination with a number of sights and activities, the village is located in a basin surrounded by nearby mountains.

## History

The history of the village is closely connected to the Benedictine Bakonybél Abbey founded by Saint Stephen I in 1018. Saint Gellert resided here as a hermit between 1023 and 1030. The village had been completely destroyed during the Ottoman occupation and was later rebuilt and repopulated with Slovaks and Germans.

### The Jewish community

In the 19th and 20th centuries, a small Jewish community lived in the village, in 1880 23 Jews lived in the village, most of whom were murdered in the Holocaust. The community had a Jewish cemetery.

## Main sights

The Benedictine church and monastery were built in 1754 in Baroque style. There is also a chapel close to the village with the statue of Saint Gellert, the stations of Christ's sufferings and the holy trinity, at Ivy Spring (also known as Saint Spring), next to a lake supplied by the spring.

Another sight is the Ethnographic Museum in the village. There is also a museum of nature and forestry called the House of the Bakony Forests.

Another attraction is a 19th-century American ranch, not very far from the village, with horse-related activities.

There are also multiple routes for trips in the nearby forests and hills, offering scenery, caves and a lookout tower on the highest peak of the Bakony Mountains.

## Facilities

There is a three star hotel and several guest houses in the village. There are also restaurants and pubs. A number of small grocery stores and also separate greengrocers are available. There is a community house providing tourist information, a doctor's office, and catering. The village has its own post office, pharmacy, day nursery, primary school and library with Internet access.

