Val-Dieu Abbey is a former Cistercian

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 whi ...

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

in the

Berwinne The Berwinne (; nl, Berwijn, ) is a small river in the north-eastern part of Belgium. It is a right-bank tributary to the Meuse river and flows over a distance of 31.9 kilometres (19.8 miles) through the provinces of Liège and Limburg. Its sour ...

valley near

Aubel Aubel (; wa, Åbe) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 4,082 inhabitants. The total area is 18.83 km², giving a population density of 217 inhabitants per km². ...

in the Pays de Herve ( province of Liège,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

History

In 1216 a small number of monks from Hocht Abbey in

Lanaken Lanaken (; li, Laoneke) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2007, the municipality of Lanaken had a total population of 24,724. Its area is 59.00 km² which gives a population density of 415 inhabitant ...

, near

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

, settled in the uninhabited valley which formed the border between the

Duchy of Limburg The Duchy of Limburg or Limbourg was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire. Much of the area of the duchy is today located within Liège Province of Belgium, with a small portion in the municipality of Voeren, an exclave of the neighbourin ...

and the county of

Dalhem Dalhem (; wa, Dålem) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2012 Dalhem had a total population of 6,996. The total area is 36.06 km² which gives a population density of 180 inhabitants pe ...

; they called their settlement ''Vallis Dei'' (french: Val-Dieu; en, Valley of God).Thomas Lambiet: ''Val-Dieu. Une abbaye, une histoire, une architecture''. Ed. Jean Levaux. Battice, 1985 The abbey's original church was destroyed in 1287 during the

War of the Limburg Succession The War of the Limburg Succession, was a series of conflicts between 1283 and 1289 for the succession in the Duchy of Limburg. The cause of the War of the Limburg Succession was the death of Waleran IV, Duke of Limburg in 1280, and his only daugh ...

. The church was rebuilt, but was destroyed again in 1574 during the Eighty Years' War, and in 1683 by the armies of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

. Under the jurisdiction of Abbot Jean Dubois, from 1711 until 1749, the abbey flourished. It was dissolved during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, when the church was destroyed for the fourth time. The remaining buildings were left empty until 1844, when they were resettled by the last living monk of Val-Dieu from the time before the Revolution, together with four monks from

Bornem Abbey Bornem Abbey is the only Cistercian abbey of Common Observance in the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. The current Abbey is the successor of the former St. Bernard's Abbey, Hemiksem, destroyed in the French Revolution. Both are built in honour ...

. The abbey was closed again in 2001, when the last three monks left. Since 1 January 2002 a small lay community has lived there, under the leadership of

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Jean-Pierre Schenkelaars, overseen by the regional ecclesiastical authorities, in association with the

Cistercian Order 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 Sain ...

Brewery

In 1997 the Brasserie de l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu was established in the abbey farm, and brews a range of

abbey beer 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 ...

s in the tradition of the former Val-Dieu monks. Their range includes a Belgian blonde (6%), brune (8%), triple (9%), as well as a grand cru (10.5%).

De Tijd ''De Tijd'' (, ''The Times'') is a Belgian newspaper that mainly focuses on business and economics. It is printed on salmon pink paper since May 2009, following the example of its colleagues ''Financial Times'', ''Het Financieele Dagblad'', '' FT ...

, ''Vallei van kaas en siroop'', 24 December 2005

References

External links

Abbaye du Val Dieu website
{{Coord, 50.69792, N, 5.805, E, source:dewiki_region:BE-WLG_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Christian monasteries in Liège Province Cistercian monasteries in Belgium 1216 establishments in Europe Religious organizations established in the 1210s Basilica churches in Belgium Christian monasteries established in the 13th century Aubel

History

Brewery

References

Further reading

External links