BÍŇA

The Convent of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bíňa can be considered the smallest medieval Premonstratensian convent on the territory of Slovakia. It was founded sometime before the year 1217 by the Bíňa branch of the noble Hunt-Poznan family. The Premonstratensians came to Bíňa from their mother monastery in Nagyvárad (Oradea), or possibly from nearby Bzovík, no later than between 1264 and 1270. In 1547, the monastery and its properties were seized by Melchior Balassa, the county head of Hont, forcing the Premonstratensians to leave Bíňa permanently.

What remains today is the twin-towered monastic church, which, despite later alterations, ranks among the most valuable Romanesque architectural monuments from the territory of medieval Hungary.