Xantus János Múzeum

Imagine stepping into the heart of Győr’s old town, and in front of you stands a baroque palace with a curious name: the Xantus János Múzeum. Despite the museum’s familiar presence today, the story behind these walls is anything but straightforward. Let’s rewind to 1741–1742.

That’s when Benedict Sajghó—Sajghó Benedek, the abbot of Pannonhalma—commissioned the construction of this palatial building, known to locals as the Apátúr-ház. It was the abbot’s vision that brought baroque grandeur to Széchenyi tér, and even now, that original elegance lingers in the palace’s stately lines and ornate detailing. But this building's life has been anything but static.

Originally a symbol of ecclesiastical prestige, the Apátúr-ház found itself at the center of Győr’s cultural transformation over two centuries later. In 1949, after a long chapter in the hands of the Benedictine order, the palace was nationalized and given a new purpose: home to the city’s growing museum. That shift was the culmination of decades of collecting and curating.

The origins of the museum itself date back to 1859, when Flóris Rómer, an archaeologist with a taste for the past, founded Győr’s first collection of antiquities. That early collection—cared for by the Benedictines right up through the Second World War—laid the groundwork for what would become one of Hungary’s most significant regional museums.