Down the Abbey Road

We spent the afternoon at a spring festival held at the Abbaye de Villers not far from Waterloo. Built in the 13th century, the abbey is now in ruins, missing walls, portions of the roof, and all the stained glass. Still, large parts of it are intact, and as I walked through the nave and the grounds I was astounded how a sense of the sacred still permeated the place hundreds of years after it was built for the monks. My son and I were both struck by the sense of treading on holy ground.

Flowers blooming in the cracks of the stone wall.

Out of darkness, into the light....Winter is over.

April 9, 2007

(More photos in my Photo Album)

Comments

[Di]

These photographs are delicious ...thanks for sharing. I do believe my Belgian bloke will have to take me there too one day soon.

[Char]

Gorgeous. This is one of the things I love about Europe. Sites like this are still to be found. My favorite abbeys are on the southern coast in Ireland. It amazes me that such detail and exactness was displayed in the architecture long before modern advances!

[furiousBall]

Wow,these are great shots. The flowers growing from the wall are really sweet.

[mamatulip]

I'd love to see sights like that. Amazing!

[Shirley]

Lovely shots ... only the Episcopal churches here in our area have the similar beautiful architecture with the arches (the windows are so special--can you imagine how exquisite they must have been with the stained glass?) and stonework. I can only imagine how moving it was to be within the remaining walls and on the grounds. The flowers add that softness to the grounds. Thanks so much for sharing.

[Emily]

The Abbey is one of my favorite places in Brussels! I love to take visitors there.

[Bice]

I love exploring old churches/abbeys. I also get a sense of the long dormant spiritual activity still lingering about. Like reconnecting with some mighty good mojo.

[Rhea]

I like old buildings. 13th century!? We have nothing like that in Boston. The oldest we have is around 1650.

[TB]

The pictures in these last few posts are really, really great. I'm so glad you're posting more photos: I love to see what life is like where you live.

[littlepurplecow]

What a beautiful place. I love that wild flowers find a way to bloom and thrive with no assistance from us.