Nieuwenbosch Abbey Ruins, Ghent, Belgium

Nieuwenbosch Abbey was a Cistercian community established in 1215 in Lokeren. The original site was unsuitable because of the poor water supply and the nuns moved to the site in Heusden in 1257, when the name became 'Nieuwenbosch'. The abbey was stormed and largely ruined in 1579 by the Iconoclasts, and the nuns moved for greater security inside the city of Ghent and built new premises in what is now the Lange Violettenstraat, in part using stone taken from the ruined buildings at Heusden, where the land and the few remaining structures were in due course rented out to farmers. The community was dissolved in 1796 in the French Revolution.

The only visible remaining structure on the Heusden site is the former abbey farm, now known as the Bosseveerhoeve.

In 1948, on the site of the former abbey church (now the garden of the state horticultural college) was discovered a monumental effigy of Hugo II, castellan of Ghent (d. c. 1232), lord of Heusden and father of Hugo III, the most prominent benefactor at the time of the foundation of Nieuwenbosch. The effigy is now in the Ghent City Museum.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Kiley Simpson (2 years ago)
Super cute place to visit!

Didier M Haenecaert (2 years ago)
Interesting place

Torsten Wiedemann (2 years ago)
One of Ghent's secrets: "Ganda" is the original Latin name of "Ghent", meaning "confluence". Sint Baafs Abdij has been built next to the ancient confluence of the rinvers Lys and Scheldt and it is possibly the oldest place in Ghent. Rumours have it that a Roman Temple was built here once, succeeded by an Abbey, which ruins are still prominent. Try to visit the ruins in a weekend, when the abbey is accessible for tourists, thanks to the volunteering 'friends of the Abbey'.

zain rajper (2 years ago)
Must place to visit for Ghent. Must Must. It all started here. The cities one of the first building

Kyle Foss (2 years ago)
The best hidden secret in Gent. Free to enter the courtyard where you can explore ruins from past buildings

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Makser

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