Tuesday, April 18, 2017

O - Orval Abbey, Belgium

Sometimes you visit a site that you had no idea existed and are pretty sure even if you did you would not be interested.  How wrong I was.  Orval Abbey was quite interesting and so I am sharing lots of photos of ruins with you.

In 1070, Benedictine monks from Italy arrived to build a church.  In 1132 Orval became a Cistercian Monastery, with monks sent by St. Bernard.  While the monastery is rebuilt several times over the centuries, in 1793, troops of the French Revolution raze the construction to the ground.  It isn't until 1926 that the Cistercian-Trappist monks come back to the site to rebuild the present monastery.


 The Abbey today

 Visiting the ruins


 The Dormitory

 The Chapter Room

A model of the site

Do you enjoy touring ruins?  Which ones have you visited or would you like to visit?  Rome, Greece, Egypt, Petra?

Bonus:  Daylily 'Oriental Ruby'

24 comments:

  1. Wonderful images. I love old structures. As I am retiring the end of this week your blog title caught my eye. I'll be back!

    Oblique Strategies I write about all the creative stuff I'm into. Moslty paper & fiber arts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been retired for going on nine years. So glad I left the workforce. Good luck to you in yours.

      Delete
  2. Thanks! After I posted my comment I looked at your bio, I grew up in the West Bloomfield area! Small blogging world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just left you a message about Michigan. One of my former co-workers retired years ago and moved to Houghton. That is pretty far north. I've been here now for 45 years, so it is truly my home.

      Delete
  3. I love the fact that so many things in Europe are older than my country. Gorgeous pictures. Thanks for sharing. I too am retired, but instead of traveling extensively, I started writing. I've been to Michigan. My son did his PhD at MSU. Find me here. LINK

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My friend was getting ready to move and her house was about 30 years old. Her sons told her she should just tear it down and have something new built. I cringe everytime I see a home show with folks ripping apart classic architecture.

      Delete
  4. I love visiting old churches and trying to imagine what happened there in the past. I would love to go to Petra one day

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't think I will make it to Petra. Should have seen it in my youth.

      Delete
  5. This looks like such a peaceful place and I'm going to have to add it to my list of places to visit. My favourite ruins that we've visited is Ephusus in Turkey, which is an incredible place with so much history. I just love visiting any old sites to view what's left of that part of history and imagine the people that have stood there before me.

    Pamela @ Highlands Days of Fun

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish I had gone to Turkey several years ago. Doubt that I will go now.

      Delete
  6. Those pictures are fabulous. The stuff Gothic novels are made from! Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to just stand there. Did you pick up on any vibes? I know I sure did at Gettysburg and in Boston outside of Paul Revere's house. This stuff always tickles my fancy. :D
    Calen~
    Impromptu Promptlings
    A to Z Challenge Letter N

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is so well-maintained that you almost feel they had just left. Never been to Boston, but Gettysburg and my tour of Civil War battlefields was quite the experience.

      Delete
    2. We're going to London in September and I'll be curious to see how I react to some of this stuff... :D

      Delete
  7. OMG it looks gorgeous! I would love to spend a day just wandering around there...

    The Multicolored Diary: WTF - Weird Things in Folktales

    ReplyDelete
  8. The pictures here are the perfect delight to the eyes! I should give this delight to my eyes in real as well, sometime! :P

    Cheers
    BoisterousBee

    ReplyDelete
  9. I do enjoy touring ruins and this one looks particularly interesting. So much history and faith.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I've visited so many ruins, but I suppose I would choose to revisit Angkor Watt in Cambodia and Machu Picchu in Peru. They were both such specal places to wander around. Every day though, you add to places I should see, particuarly as they are so close to home for me.

    Amble Bay's Orchestra

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My friend took her husband to Machu Picchu and he was not happy. Not sure if I will get there. She has been trying to convince him to go to Cambodia and Vietnam but he isn't buying it.

      Delete
  11. Beautiful! I love explore abbeys in Europe when I get the chance. :)

    With Love,
    Mandy

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love these pictures and love visiting ruins. When my hubby and I were in Graz, we visited the ruin of a castle and it was so neat. I have also been to the Musee De Cluny in Paris....beautiful museum but in the back one can explore the remains of the monastery and the crypts...very creepy. I want to visit all these places but if I had to pick one...I would pick Petra...always looks exotic and somehow plucked from a fairy tale

    ReplyDelete
  13. There's something so forbidding and enticing about ruins. I am always imagining life as it must have been back then.
    I definitely have a thing for ruins.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I do love visiting ruins. We went to Ireland last summer and visited quite a few. One of my favorites was an old castle being held together by ivy in some spots. WeekendsInMaine

    ReplyDelete
  15. Very interesting history. The revolutionaries back then were not too interested in preserving their cultural heritage. Of course, Cromwell's men in England were doing the same thing, smashing statues and stained glass whenever they had the chance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And here in the 21st century soldiers destroy historic sites and artifacts.

      Delete

I love to hear your comments and will try to reply on this blog and visit your blog when available.