Having successfully navigated the train journey, we were not so lucky on arrival at our destination – what was billed by the guidebook as a 15 minute walk to the abbey took me and Tintin nearly an hour, and involved numerous wrong turns and some time spent trespassing on private property.
However, it was worth the wait, and after receiving directions from a kindly Belgian, we arrived at the abbey. The first monastic settlers arrived on the site in 1146, and the abbey grew in size and influence throughout the thirteenth century. Following the French revolution the site was privately sold, and fell into the fabulous set of ruins that remain today. The buildings that remain are all in various states of disrepair, some merely a set of small walls, and others with two storeys still intact. This being Belgium – the land that health and safety forgot – you are more or less free to roam the ruins as you wish, ducking into nooks and crannies such as the old prison cells (complete with en-suite latrine), ignoring danger signs to climb multiple steps into the hills and woods, and fumble about in the darkened rooms of the old lay brothers’ dormitories. Most impressive of all was the church, built to cathedral proportions, missing some of its roof and romantically adorned with ivy. You could easily while away an entire afternoon exploring the site and still miss some of the sights, and is overall one of the best days out we have had since coming to Belgium.
Below is a small selection of photos which should give you an idea.
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