The Abbey of the Holy Cross in

Cañon City, Colorado Cañon City is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 17,141 at the 2020 United States Census. Cañon City is the principal city of t ...

, is a former monastery of the Order of St. Benedict in the United States. It existed for nearly 120 years, operating such various enterprises as a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

for boys and a winery. It is listed on the

National Register of Historical Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

Expansion

Two Benedictine

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s were sent in 1886 from

St. Vincent Archabbey Saint Vincent Archabbey is a Benedictine monastery in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the city of Latrobe. A member of the American-Cassinese Congregation, it is the oldest Benedictine monastery in the United States and the largest in th ...

in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and traveled to

Breckenridge, Colorado The Town of Breckenridge is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Summit County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,078 at the 2020 United States Census. Breckenridge is the pr ...

, to establish a monastic community in what was still frontier territory. They went at the invitation of

Joseph Projectus Machebeuf Joseph Projectus Machebeuf (August 11, 1812 – July 10, 1889) was a French Roman Catholic missionary and the first Bishop of Denver. Biography The oldest of five children, Machebeuf was born in Riom to Michael and Gilberte (née Plauc) Mac ...

, then still the

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

for

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. Their first foundation was the

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

of St. Mary in

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

. Other monks followed in ensuing years. The growth of the community led the community to move to Cañon City in 1924, where a larger monastery was built in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. The house was raised to the status of an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

at that time, and it assumed a new name. A boarding school was opened at the abbey, and initial attempts were made at establishing a winery, which were not pursued at the time. Like other religious communities in the United States, the abbey saw its numbers prosper during the 1950s and 1960s, only to see a steep decline begin after that. The abbey school was closed in 1985. By the early 2000s, the community was composed of about 20 monks, mostly elderly. In an effort to find a means of income for themselves, in the year 2000 the monks decided to return to the idea of planting a vineyard again. They entrusted the production to a professional

viticulturist Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

who began to produce wine the following year.

Decline

By the year 2005, however, it was determined that the monastic community was no longer viable and, in a final chapter meeting, the monks voted to dissolve it. They found homes for themselves in various other monasteries, and the abbey was closed the following year in september of 2006.

Winery at Holy Cross Abbey

Other than incorporating "Holy Cross Abbey" into its business name after the land upon which it stands was acquired from the Monastic community, the St Benedictine monks of The Abbey, never had a thing to do in the creation or operation of, the winery. The winery and tasting room opened to the public in 2002, welcoming visitors to its beautiful and serene Rocky Mountain vineyard.
The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey
invites visitors into its tasting room where staff guide them through a flight tasting on award-winning wine. Additional services include a VIP wine and cheese tasting during the summer months. The tasting room also sells world and locally-made goods. In the spring and summer, visitors may sit in an outdoor garden setting while viewing thriving vineyards growing against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. In the winter, visitors may taste wine beside a roaring fireplace.

Annual Events

The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey hosts and participates in several annual events. These include but are not limited to: * Harvest Festival * Winemakers Dinner * Farmmm to Table Fun Run and Dinner * Palette to Palate * Spring Wine Extravaganza Wines * Monterey Chardonnay * Cabernet Sauvignon * 2015 Wild Cañon Harvest * Sauvignon Blanc Reserve * Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve * Apple Blossom * Syrah * Revelation * American Riesling * Merlot * Cabernet Franc * Merlot Divinity * Merlot Reserve * Sangre de Cristo Nouveau * Vineyard Sunset

References

External links

SAH Archipedia Building Entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holy Cross Abbey (Canon City) Religious organizations established in 1886 1886 establishments in Colorado 2005 disestablishments in Colorado 19th-century Christian monasteries Catholic Church in Colorado Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado National Register of Historic Places in Fremont County, Colorado Churches in Fremont County, Colorado Buildings and structures in Cañon City, Colorado 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States