Sankt Pölten Cathedral has been the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Sankt Pölten since 1785, having previously been the church of the Augustinian Abbey of St. Pölten, dissolved in 1784. The building, despite being a well-preserved late Romanesque structure, is Baroque in appearance.
The use of the site for religious buildings is believed to date from around 790, when a Benedictine monastery was established here, to which were brought the relics of Saint Hippolytus, after whom the present city is named. In 828, the monastery became a possession of the Diocese of Passau, and a centre of missionary activity, predominantly in Great Moravia. After the invasion of the Magyars in around 907, the monastery was almost entirely destroyed, and was not rebuilt until after the Battle of Lechfeld in 955. The first documentary reference is in a charter of 976 from Emperor Otto II to Bishop Pilgrim of Passau.
Under Bishop Altmann of Passau the abbey became an Augustinian canonry, which was dissolved in 1784 as part of the Josephine Reforms.
In around 1150, the abbey church was rebuilt with three naves but no transept, with a westwork including two towers. In 1228 Bishop Gebhard changed the dedication, formerly to Saints Peter, Stephen and Hippolytus, to the Assumption of Mary. After a fire it was rebuilt again between 1267 and 1280. After another fire in 1621 the entire building was remodelled in the present Baroque style.
References:The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.
The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.
The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.
The history of the castle is the subject of different legends.