2024The 800th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Benedictine Abbey at Skalka, Near Trencin - First Day Cover

The ruins of this smallish monastery on the right bank of the Váh, just below the steep walls of a limestone crag, are located in an area called Veľká Skalka. The monastery buildings were created as an extension to a cave in the rock massif, which formed the cult centre of the compound. Tradition has it that the cave was inhabited by Benedict, a monk from the Zobor Monastery, who lived there as a hermit in the 11th century – perhaps in the early 1030s. He followed the example of his teacher, Svorad, who also lived as a hermit, probably in a cave near the monastery on Zobor Hill. We know about the Church of St. Benedict from a mention of it in 1208, it was built in Skalka before the establishment of the abbey. However, it is not certain if it was situated in exactly the same place as the monastery (it could also have been located in the area of Malá Skalka or on the hillock above the monastery called Chochel).