Ter Doest Monastery in Bruges

The monastery of Ter Doest in Bruges has a rich history. At the beginning of the 12th century, these lands were granted to the monks of the Order of St. Benedict. They began to rebuild their abbey, but land was scarce and in short supply. Despite all the difficulties, the temple was finally built.

History of Ter Doest Monastery in Bruges

Some time later, the monks joined another order - the Cistercian Order. A characteristic feature of this order is modesty and asceticism. They were recluses and rarely interacted with anyone outside their monasteries. However, this did not stop them from building the Ter Doest monastery in Bruges, developing quite a vigorous activity around the small abbey, significantly expanding it and filling the territory with a variety of buildings. In particular, there was a farm with outbuildings.

Features of the Ter Doest monastery in Bruges

Active development continued the activities of the monks for more than 200 years and gradually died down by the 14th century. Then difficult times came for the abbey: there were wars, changes in power, French occupation, peasant reforms. All this led to the slow collapse of the once strong and rich monastic economy.

Today, only one barn remains from the former greatness of the Ter Doest monastery in Bruges. The strong stone structure has impressive dimensions. Even a major flood did not wash it away, although it was still badly damaged. Over the years, the roof was changed from thatch to tiles and since then it has stood here for more than 900 years. Of course, the Ter Doest monastery in Bruges is an amazing monument of ancient history that has survived to this day and it deserves attention and respect.