Photographer's Note
‘Villers-la-Ville – Villers Abbey’
A while ago Mariusz showed many photos of abbey and monastery ruins in England. They reminded me of a visit I paid in my younger years to the ruins of an abbey in Belgium.
About a month ago I decided to revisit this site.
The ruins of this abbey are located in the smallest Walloon province, Walloon Brabant, and less than 40 kilometers from where I live.
I was surprised that the ruins were a lot larger than I remembered and well worth a visit.
My main photo show the ruins of the monks' refectory and their workspaces.
Brief overview of the history, from https://villers.be/en
In 1146, a small group of 17 monks from Clairvaux Abbey, France founded a new abbey at Villers, Belgium.
A new building project began in 1197. The abbey became Gothic and took more than 100 years to build.
During this very wealthy period, the almost 400 monks in the community owned almost 10.000 hectares of land, stretching as far as Antwerp.
Villers Abbey covered more than 36 hectares.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the monks had to leave their abbey repeatedly because of invasions.
The 18th century was the abbey’s second golden age. The medieval buildings were reconstructed in Neoclassical style.
The Abbot’s Palace and its gardens were built.
But the French Revolution chased the monks away. The Abbey was sacked and pillaged in 1794 and then sold to a builders’ merchant, who dismantled it piece by piece.
Vegetation and rain did the rest... The Abbey fell into ruins.
In 1972, the ruins were classified as a historic site and monument.
In 1992, the Abbey was classified as part of Wallonia’s exceptional heritage. The whole estate was preserved: its 50.000 m2 of walls preserved above ground and its 5.000 m2 of Romanesque and Gothic vaults make it one of the biggest archaeological sites in Belgium.
PS: Villers is the name of the abbey.
Villers-la-Ville is the name of the municipality.
During my visit there were few other tourists, mainly three groups of school children.
holmertz, Fis2, pierrefonds, macjake, ricardomattos, pajaran, COSTANTINO, jemaflor, jean113, ktanska, adramad, worldcitizen, PiotrF marcou esta nota como útil
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holmertz
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 12735 W: 572 N: 24363]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-g.gif){kind=small}
(103732) 2022-04-26 11:54
Hello Paul,
It sounds unusual to me that a building or anything else you saw when much younger actually seems to have grown when you revisit it again many years later. Usually they would look disappointingly much smaller than you remembered them.
This abbey looks quite big to me, but of course I have nothing to compare it with. The main photo and WS #2 are quite similar but the main upload has the two trees as a bonus and a slightly wider view. Both photos are brightened by school kids, In the other WS there is something on the lawn in the foreground to anchor the composition. The fine weather provided all photos with splendid colours.
Best regards,
Gert
Fis2
(172083) 2022-04-26 12:24
Witaj Paul!
A very interesting photos.
Wonderful place, the ruins make impression.
I love it.
Good framing, colors and sharpness.
Well done.
Good evening.
Krzysztof
pierrefonds
(115677) 2022-04-26 12:32
Bonsoir Paul,
Les arbres cadrent bien l'abbaye. La prise de vue permet de voir les détails de l'abbaye de Villers. La lumière donne un bon rendu aux couleurs de l'image. Bonne soirée.
Pierre
Tue
(93592) 2022-04-26 13:06
Hallo Paul,
Deze ruïnes van de oude abdij doen inderdaad vrij Engels aan. Het is een enorm complex en dit standpunt geeft een mooi overzicht over het hele gebied, dat ook deels mooi door de bomen omlijst wordt.
Lars
lousat
(140070) 2022-04-26 13:36
Hi Paul,a typically British post but it does not come from the United Kingdom, where generally the abbeys almost always show only ruins, while in our countries they are well preserved and cared for. Here we have a really rare and interesting example, the abbey is actually very extensive, I am happy that at least now it is considered of historical importance and is being cured, 3 beautiful photos that show the great grandeur of what remains of the architecture. Have a good night and thanks,Luciano
macjake
(98544) 2022-04-26 13:58
Hi Paul
Here is a perfect example of how our TE friends can influence our daily lives. great that you returned to this Abbey after so long. It would make for a great TE gathering. I would love this place. nice to add in the trees (looking the same color as the abbey too), they fill up the cloudless sky. amazing how its still standing after so long. wonderful sharpness as usual my friend. cheers
Craig
Silvio1953
(223103) 2022-04-26 14:07
Ciao Paul, great view of fascinating ruined abbey, splendid light, excellent sharpness, fine details and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio
ricardomattos
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1373 W: 14 N: 3495]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-s-g.gif){kind=small}
(17600) 2022-04-26 16:03
Oi Paul,
Realmente é enorme esta abadia. Parece mais uma vila inteira com esta quantidade de paredes com suas janelas que resistiram aos saques e ao tempo. Belo trabalho. Valeu a pena revisitá-la.
Saudaçoes
Ricardo
pajaran
(117201) 2022-04-26 21:47
Pozdrav.
Lep pogled i trenutak, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lepo mesto i stara arhitektura, dobro pokazano sa lepim bojama, kontrastom, perspektivom i uhvacenim trenutkom sa posetiocima.
Dobar rad sa lepim fotografijama u radionici.
lepa rusevina.
Zelim vam sve najbolje.
Paja
COSTANTINO
(117940) 2022-04-26 22:39
Hello dear friend and have a nice day
and a happy evening
i like this presentation and particularly
this landscape with the high trees
dominating this one...
thanks for your useful notes
in order to understand better
everything we can see here
regards
costantino
jemaflor
(148368) 2022-04-26 23:17
Salut Paul,
Des ruines bien cadrées et bien mises en valeur avec cet ensoleillement, bon contraste de teintes entre le gris des pierres puis le vert et bleu.
jean113
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2386 W: 0 N: 7387]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-n-g.gif){kind=small}
(28349) 2022-04-27 7:23
Hello Paul, a ruined abbey but not the fault of Henry VIII as in the UK!
You have given us a very informative set of notes.
It is a very impressive set of ruins with some interesting architectural details still much in evidence.
I spy a school party enjoying a trip away from school.
Thanks for sharing.
Kind regards, Jean.
ktanska
(45126) 2022-04-27 10:19
Hi Paul,
You are right, ruined churches are more likely to remind of Britain. But as your note reveal various invasions have caused ruins in Belgium too. This abbey has quite a massive group of buildings. Lovely spring weather.
Kari
mkamionka
(75255) 2022-04-28 5:01
Hi Paul,
Thank you for mentioning my name. I suppose I may be coming to mind when someone talks about ruines ha ha
There are plenty of them in the North England indeed.
I think this year after short holidays in Cape Verde, I will stay around and re-visit more ruins :)
I am glad you discover for us some beautiful less known Belgian tourist destinations. You could organize a TE meeting there although I am busy at work and have many family events booked as well so I rarely can attend the TE meetings, maybe when I retire and TE still exists I will organize them...
Interesting that the tree stands in the perfect centre here, I just noticed it now. Beautiful weather day!
Excellent reportage,
M
aliabazari
(23401) 2022-04-28 11:45
Hello Paul
Beautiful view of the monastery with a combination of trees in the foreground. It has an interesting history full of ups and downs.
adramad
(73498) 2022-04-29 12:34
Hello Paul.
The great set of buildings that formed this Abbey was enormous,
Despite being in ruins, a visit to these places always has its charm, which still retains a small part of its splendor of other times.
The other views of the WS are interesting.
Sharpness, lighting, color, and magnificent composition; They are managed perfectly, in this beautiful image.
Nice job. I like very much.
You have a good day.
Very best regards.
Luis.
jmdias
(116635) 2022-05-17 9:49
paul
a nice perspective of these ruins, here we have a more general view os them and I liked the position of these trees too.
take care
jorge
worldcitizen
(16234) 2022-05-18 13:33
Hello Paul,
I need to catch up on your photos of the abbey! This first one shows a nice overview of the complex, and with group of people adding scale to the view. It's amazing to think of monks occupying this site so many centuries ago. Here in NY something is considered very old if it's from 150-200 years ago!
PiotrF
(56188) 2022-08-01 16:13
Hello Paul
Great view of ruins of this abbey.
Very good picures in WS.
Thank you for informative note.
I like good quality.
Fine presentation
Regards
Piotr
Discussions
- To holmertz: Elucidation (1)
by PaulVDV, last updated 2022-04-26 12:03
