Tautra Mariakloster Nave West Entry 2000 08 07

Tautra Mariakloster Nave North Wall 2000 08 07

Tautra Abbey ( no, Tautra Mariakloster) was a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monks founded in the 13th century on the island of Tautra in the Trondheimsfjord in Norway. The island is part of the municipality of Frosta in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Tautra Abbey was dissolved during the Reformation in Scandinavia when its lands were passed to the Crown, but the sizeable ruins of the church are still to be seen. The ruins of the former abbey (''Tautra klosterruin'') are relatively well preserved and are a favorite tourist destination.

Tautra Abbey

The Cistercian

of Tautra (''Tuterøkloster'') was opened on 25 March 1207. It was founded by

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 from

Lyse Abbey Lyse Abbey or Saint Mary's Abbey, Lyse ( no, Lyse kloster, Lyse Mariakloster) is a now-ruined Cistercian monastery in Bjørnafjorden Municipality in Vestland county in south-western Norway. The name "Lyse" is derived from Lysefjorden near w ...

near

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

. Tautra Abbey had a good strategic and attractive site. The earlier foundation of Munkeby Abbey seems to have been transferred here shortly after the foundation of this house. The abbey grew wealthy and powerful, and its

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

s often played a major part in

Norwegian politics The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power is ...

. The abbey flourished and lasted until the 16th century. Tautra Abbey ceased as an independent monastery in 1532. Tautra Abbey was dissolved during the Reformation in Scandinavia. Its property was placed under the crown in 1537 when it was closed.

Tautra Monastery

The present ''Tautra Monastery'' ( no, Tautra Mariakloster) is a newly founded

Trappistine The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

community, and it is the first permanent Cistercian settlement in Norway since the Reformation. It was founded in 1999, near the ruins of the medieval monastery, as a foundation of

Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey The Abbey of Our Lady of the Mississippi is located near Dubuque, Iowa. The nuns there are members of the branch of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, commonly referred to as Trappistines. They are a part of the Catholic Church in ...

, located near Dubuque, Iowa in the United States. The foundation stone was laid by

Queen Sonja of Norway Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen on 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway since 17 January 1991 as the wife of King Harald V. Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relations ...

on 23 May 2003. The new monastery was granted general autonomy on 26 May 2006. On 25 March 2012, the status of the monastery was raised to that of Major

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 ...

in the Cistercian Order. A community of Cistercians monks is in the process of being established nearby, near the former Munkeby Abbey, the first foundation of the Order in what is now Norway. The monk in residence serves as

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

to the nuns. The new monastery will the first new foundation by the

motherhouse A motherhouse is the principal house or community for a religious institute. It would normally be where the residence and offices of the religious superior In a hierarchy or tree structure of any kind, a superior is an individual or position at ...

of the Order, the

Abbey of Cîteaux 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 Christians, Christian monks and nuns ...

, since the 13th century.Munkeby Monastery
(Munkeby Mariakloster)

Ruins of Tautra Abbey

File:Tautra kloster.jpg File:Tautra Mariakloster.jpg File:Tautra_kloster_ruin_vinter.jpg File:Tautra Kloster.jpg File:Tautra kloster i Frosta, Nord-Trøndelag.jpg

References

Other sources

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External links

Tautra Abbey website

Tautra Mariakloster website
{{authority control Christian monasteries established in the 13th century 20th-century Christian monasteries Cistercian monasteries in Norway Trappistine monasteries Frosta Monasteries dissolved under the Norwegian Reformation 1537 disestablishments in Norway 1999 establishments in Norway Christianity in medieval Norway Buildings and structures owned by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments