The site was built in honour of early Christian martyr, Saint Menas of Alexandria, who died in 296 AD. Various 5th-century accounts give slightly different versions of his burial and the subsequent founding of his church, but essentially his body was taken from Alexandria on a camel, which was led into the desert beyond Lake Mareotis. At some point, the camel refused to walk any further – this was taken as a sign of divine will, and the body’s attendants buried it on that spot.
The tomb’s location was then thought to be forgotten until its miraculous rediscovery by a local shepherd, who is said to have seen a sheep healed by the site’s water and then used the water and dust from the tomb to heal sick people brought to him. Word of the shepherd’s healing powers spread rapidly, and the synaxarium (a book that includes short accounts on the lives of the saints) describes Constantine I sending his sick daughter to the shepherd to be cured. The book credits her with finding Menas’ body, after which Constantine ordered the construction of a church at the site.
By the late 4th century, it became a major pilgrimage destination for Christians. Small terracotta ‘Menas flasks’ were sold to pilgrims as containers for holy water, and are found widely around the Western Mediterranean, dating roughly from the century and a half before the Muslim conquest. Roman Emperor Arcadius ordered a major expansion of the facilities, and by the end of Late Antiquity, Abu Mena had become the leading pilgrimage site in Egypt, yet was destroyed during the Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century.
The site was first excavated from 1905-1907. There are very few standing remains, but the foundations of most major buildings, such as the large basilica church, are easily discernible as well as monastic buildings, a baptistery and Roman baths. The highlight is the stunning underground tomb of Saint Menas, adorned with beautiful frescoes. More recent excavations in 1998 uncovered a large dormitory for poor pilgrims, a complex to the south of the great basilica (likely the abbot’s residence) and a complex of wine presses, including underground storage rooms, dating to the 6th/7th centuries.
However, excessive groundwater extraction has caused land subsidence, meaning the site is at risk of irreparable damage. A number of the site’s buildings have collapsed or are now unstable, and the site was added to the List of World Heritage Danger in 2001. Since then, efforts have been made to preserve and stabilise Abu Mena, including the placing of sand in endangered buildings and closing them off to the public.
Abu Mena is located about 31 miles southwest of Alexandria, near New Borg El Arab city.
]]>The monument’s namesake, Alexander Nevsky, was a military commander also known as Alexander of Novgorod. A brilliant leader, Nevsky’s successes on the battlefield against Germany and Sweden in the 13th century. Peter the Great had the monastery built on the spot which he thought was the site of the famous Neva Battle (1240): the eastern end of St Petersburg’s most famous street, Nevsky Prospekt. However, it turned out this site was actually about 12 miles away.
An important and vibrant holy site for Russia’s Orthodox community, Alexander Nevsky’s status as a lavra, a high accolade for a religious institution in Russia and one which it achieved in 1797, makes the monastery a popular place of worship.
The Alexander Nevsky Lavra complex includes two churches, the first built in 1712 and the second in 1724, both in a baroque style. The complex also includes the famous Tikhvin Cemetery, where many of Russia’s famous artists are buried.The Alexander Nevsky Lavra graveyard is burial site of writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, composer Peter Tchaikovsky, Prince Alexander Suvorov, linguist and scientist Mikhail Lomonosov and all the members of the musical ensemble, Group of Five. Alexander Nevsky’s remains are also found here.
Whilst much of Alexander Nevsky Lavra’s riches and original pieces have been looted and destroyed over the years, this remains a beautiful and holy site as well as one imbued with history.
Alexander Nevsky Lavra is still very much a working monastery – it’s open year round with seasonal hours, and visitors are free to stroll around most of the grounds free of charge. To visit the most important graveyards (and to see the graves of Dostoevsky and Tchaikovsky), you’ll need to purchase a ticket from the kiosk to the right of the main entrance.
Visitors to Alexander Nevsky Lavra can also see the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Look out for the bread sold in Alexander Nevsky Square which is baked daily by the monks.
The monastery is at the far eastern end of Nevsky Prospekt. The nearest metro station is Ploschad’ Aleksandra Nevskogo 1/2, which is the intersection of Green Line 3 and Orange Line 4. Realistically it’s 3-4km from most of St Petersburg’s other major tourist sites, so if you don’t feel comfortable navigating the metro (the Cyrillic can be a challenge), you’ll need to hop in a taxi.
]]>Also known as Bachkovo Monastery of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin, the monastery was founded by statesman and military commander Prince Gregory Pakourianos, who set up a school for youth at the monastery.
During the Second Bulgarian Empire, the site was patronised by both Tsar Ivan Assen II and Tsar Ivan Alexander, whose portrait can be found in the ossuary.
Destroyed by the Ottomans in the 15th to 16th centuries, only the ossuary of Bachkovo Monastery of the original monastery still survives. The rest mostly dates from 1601 onwards, when reconstruction began. This includes the Church of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin. Other aspects, such as the Church of St Nicholas, were built in the 19th century.
Located 10km from Asenovgrad and 30 km from Plovdiv, the monastery is easily accessible and is therefore the second most visited monastery in the country. During the weekends and on big orthodox holidays, large groups of pilgrims and tourists visit the site both for its history as well as it scenery, being located in the heart of the Rhodope Mountains near the Valley of Chepelarska River.
Today, visitors come to Bachkovo Monastery to see its many works of art as well as to appreciate its history, which includes various cultural influences, among them Georgian and Byzantine. A particular highlight is the ‘Panorama’ mural, which dates to the mid 19th century and runs along the outside wall of the refectory. The biggest scenic mural on the Balkan peninsula, it provides a bird’s eye view of the monastery with all of its surrounding buildings at the time of painting.
Mass is served twice a day: at 7am and 5pm (6pm in the summer).
From the centre of Plovdiv, Bachkovo Monastery is reachable by car in 35 minutes via the Route 86 road. From the centre of Bachkovo, the site is reachable in 5 minutes by car via Route 86, or is a 20 minute walk by the same route.
]]>
The Monastery of the Dominicans of Batalha was built to commemorate the victory of the Portuguese over the Castilians at the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. It was to be the Portuguese monarchy’s main building project for the next two centuries. Over the course of the project, a highly original, national Gothic style evolved, profoundly influenced by Manueline art, as demonstrated by the Royal Cloister.
The Monastery is thought to have been designed by English architect Master Huguet. The chapel’s floor plan consists of an octagonal space inserted in a square, creating two separate volumes that combine most harmoniously. The ceiling consists of an eight-point star-shaped lantern. The most dramatic feature is to be found in the centre of the chapel: the enormous medieval tomb of Dom João I and his wife, Queen Philippa of Lancaster. Bays in the chapel walls contain the tombs of their sons, among them Prince Henry the Navigator.
The main entrance of the church is through the porch on the west facade. On both sides of this portal are sculptures of the twelve apostles standing on consoles. In the centre is a high relief statue of Christ in Majesty surrounded by the Evangelists, framed by six covings decorated with sculptures of biblical kings and queens, prophets and angels holding musical instruments from the Middle Ages.
As a monument charged with a symbolic value from its foundation, the Monastery of Batalha was, for more than two centuries, the great workshop of the Portuguese monarchy.
Whilst the monastery escaped the devastation of the 1755 earthquake it was badly damaged during the Peninsula War in 1810 when Napoleonic troops sacked the monastery. In the following years the building went into decline. King Fernando II initiated restoration works in 1840. This continued almost as long as the original build and saw Batalha added as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.
The monastery blends a rich history with impressive architecture such as its vast vaulted ceilings, Batalha Monastery is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and also features as one of our top 10 tourist attractions in Portugal.
Batalha is located 118km north of Lisbon, close to Fatima and Alcobaça. From Lisbon, trains run to Valado dos Frades and buses continue from there to Batalha. By car from Alcobaça, take the N8 northeast and the drive should be around 20 minutes.
]]>Today, the Burgkloster is a museum of Lübeck’s history. Visitors can tour the building as well as viewing exhibits on the history of Lübeck’s Jewish community and about Lübeck’s time as an important member of the Hanseatic League – a medieval trade alliance controlling the North and Baltic seas.
The Burgkloster was built on the narrow entrance to the old town peninsula, over the remains of a Slavic castle. In 1221, the castle and cathedral city were united with the medieval bourgeois city by a wall, and when their leader was captured, the people of Lübeck took the chance to gain their independence.
The Burgkloster took its name from the battle of Bornhöved – the victory over the Danes which was attributed to the saints. The Lübeckers therefore replaced the castle with a Dominican monastery, and the Burgkloster became a place of learning and historical records.
With the Reformation spreading across Europe, the monastery was closed and a poor house was set up. Under the Third Reich, the Burgkloster was used as a Nazi prison, bearing witness to terrible atrocities, particularly against Jews and the resistance movement.
Today, explore the history of the Hanseatic trading league and the castle monastery at your own pace or with an audio guide around the European Hanseatic Museum which has occupied Burgkloster since 2015.
Open between 10am and 6pm, you can also easily spend 2 hours wandering the castle monastery and museum exhibitions, touring staged spaces and valuable original objects.
Located close to Burgtor and the Hubbrücke Lübeck, Burgkloster is easily found on foot or public transport around Lübeck. The buses 4, 10, 11, 12, 21, 30, 31, 32, 39 and 40 all stop at Lübeck Große Burgstraße, just on the corner of the Burgkloster.
]]>Built in 1389, Carmo Convent was the work of Nuno Ãlvares Pereira, an important figure in Portuguese military history – including in the victory at the Battle of Aljubarrota – turned member of the Carmelite Order.
In 1755, Carmo Convent was devastated by an earthquake and its picturesque ruins are now open to the public. The convent is also now home to the Museu Arqueologico do Carmo, with its collection ranging from prehistoric to medieval artefacts.
The monastery was founded in 1389, with the following decades seeing the presbytery and apse being added. By 1423, the residential cells were completed, allowing the Carmelites friars to inhabit the building.
It is known for its plain Gothic style, and compared to other churches in the area, the convent was known to be the most imposing in both its architecture and decoration. By 1551, the convent housed around 70 clergy and 10 servants.
A devastating earthquake in 1755 caused the arches and roof to cave in on the congregation as they were attending mass. It also completely destroyed the library, which housed approximately 5,000 volumes.
Minor repairs were carried out, but the convent was never fully repaired; instead, it was occupied by quarters of the Guarda Real de Policia (Police Royal Guard), used as a law court, rented out as a sawmilling shop, and, in the mid-19th century, used as a station for a municipal guard and cavalry squadron.
In 1864, the buildings and site were donated to the Association of Portuguese Archaeologists, who turned it into a museum.
Today, locals and visitors alike can enjoy the convent as a museum. In the place of the former main altar is a small archaeological museum with an eclectic collection of tombs – the largest one is of King Ferdinand I – ceramics, statues, and mosaics.
There is also an ancient Visigoth pillar and a Roman tomb carved with reliefs depicting the Muses. There are also shrunken heads, South African mummies, a jasper sculpture of the Virgin Mary, ancient tombstones, Visigothic artefacts, and coins which date back to the 13th century.
The best way to reach the convent is by using the Metro, and stopping at the Baixa-Chiado Station. By foot, it’s a 20 minute walk from the centre of Lisbon, via the Calçada Santana road. By car, it’s a 10 minute drive via R. dos Douradores, though it might prove difficult to find parking nearby.
]]>
Inspired by the French monastery of Cluny, William de Warenne built Castle Acre Priory in 1090 in the image of the eminent religious house. de Warenne had fought alongside William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, and had benefitted substantially from the following Norman Conquest, gaining much land in East Anglia.
What resulted from his building scheme in Castle Acre was an impressive and ornately decorated monastic structure, with its opulent priory church built slightly later in the 12th century. Its flamboyant decoration was highly characteristic of the Cluniac order, however their dependence on Cluny would not always serve in their best interest. During the wars with France in the late 13th and 14th centuries, Castle Acre Priory suffered restrictions and punitive taxation, before eventually securing ‘English’ status in 1325.
The Priory survived until 1537, when it became one of many monasteries to be dissolved by Henry VIII. Its monks were likely pensioned off, and its church almost immediately demolished.
Today, Castle Acre Priory is managed by English Heritage and is open to the public. Its atmospheric ruins form one England’s largest monastic sites and offers visitors an insight into the history of the order of the Cluniacs.
There are several exhibitions at Castle Acre Priory, including a recreation of the monks’ herb garden and displays of original artefacts. Audio guides are available, making the site easy to navigate and understand, with visits usually lasting around a couple of hours.
Castle Acre Priory is located in the village of Castle Acre in Norfolk, just off the A1065 around 5 miles north of Swaffham. There is free parking next to the site’s shop, with additional parking in the village. The nearest train station is 14 miles away at King’s Lynn, while the West Norfolk Community Transport 32 service stops at the Pyes Lane Stop, a 10-minute walk to the site.
]]>Chiprovtsi is a small town in northwestern Bulgaria, administratively part of Montana Province. It lies on the shores of the river Ogosta in the western Balkan Mountains, very close to the Bulgarian-Serbian border. A town of about 2,000 inhabitants, Chiprovtsi is the administrative centre of Chiprovtsi Municipality that also covers nine nearby villages. Chiprovtsi is thought to have been founded in the Late Middle Ages as a mining and metalsmithing centre.
The first building to be constructed on the site was probably built in the tenth century during the First Bulgarian Empire, when the area became increasingly Christianised. The Chiprovtsi Monastery has since served as a centre of learning and religious study and is still a functioning monastery today.
The history of the Chiprovtsi Monastery has often been turbulent. The holy site participated in the country’s struggle against Ottoman rule that culminated in 1688 with the Chiprovtsi Uprising, when the monastery was used as a refuge for the insurgents.
The monastery has been destroyed several times, with the worst destruction occurring after the failed Chiprovtsi Uprising. The monastery church was built at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century. It has a single nave and apse. The Saint Atanasiy Veliki Chapel, which was built in 1880, is located in one of the wings that house the monks.
The monastery complex consists of a church, monastic cloister, small cemetery and ossuary on the ground floor, a chapel on the second, tower-bell on the third floor. The complex is surrounded by a stone wall with three entrances.
Today, it is possible to visit the Chiprovtsi Monastery, though keep in mind that, as this is a working monastery, visiting times and access may be limited.
The monastery is situated at the foot of Yazova Mountain. It is roughly 7km northeast of Chiprovtsi village; take any bus between Montana and Chiprovtsi.
]]>Built in the 16th century in an isolated area of Sintra, the convent was home to a small number of Franciscan monks seeking seclusion and was comprised of extremely small living quarters and communal areas.
Nevertheless over time the convent became an important religious site, attracting patronage and visits from kings, nobles and travellers from many countries. By the early 19th century the convent was very well known and boasted a number of impressive artworks and frescoes.
However, life at the Convent was forever altered in 1834, with the dissolution of the religious orders in Portugal. Following this the site fell into a state of disuse and ruin and suffered greatly through the decades that followed. Despite restoration in the mid-20th century further damage was incurred as recently as 1998 when several artefacts and works of art were stolen.
Today, the overgrown and abandoned Convent of the Capuchos has once again been restored and is now part of the Sintra Parks organisation. Visitors can explore the grounds as well as the cramped living quarters, small chapels and prayer halls and guided or audio tours are also available.
Be aware that getting to the convent can be a little challenging. Just over 7 kilometres from Sintra-Vila and around 5 kilometres from Parque da Pena, the site is accessed along a remote and windy road which is walked, guided by signs giving step-by-step directions. Buses are rare and taxis are expensive, so it is best to rent a car and travel there yourself if possible.
]]>Dubrovnik’s Dominican Friary was founded in 1315 and built with the help of the local government and many local and foreign craftsmen. The Dominicans established their monastery as early as 1225, but building the monastery continued into the 14th century.
Unlike the Franciscan monastery in Dubrovnik, the Dominican monastery was constructed against the city wall to strengthen its vulnerable northeastern section. The fortress reflected the concerns of the prospering Republic of Ragusa at the time over political instability and the need for defence against its rival trading port, Venice.
The monastery was built in a simple architectural design: a hall with a pentagonal Gothic apse separated from the central area by 3 high Gothic arches. The portal on the southern side has certain Romanesque elements, but Bonino of Milan added a pointed Gothic arch in 1419. The interior was elaborately decorated with stone furniture, a grand pulpit, notable gravestones and Renaissance niches.
The monastery gained its final shape in the 15th century when the chapter house, vestry, and the cloister were added. The monastery’s bell tower was also a major landmark in the Old City, begun in the 16th century and completed in the 18th century. During Napoleon‘s occupation of Dubrovnik from 1806, the monastery was used as a stables.
Today, the church remains one of the largest Gothic buildings on the east Adriatic coast, open to the public from 9am to 6pm. Visitors to the monastery can walk through the oldest part of the church, the Gothic apse, lit up by stained windows, and see the church’s star attraction: a huge 5 metre tall golden Gothic crucifix.
Those with a keen eye will note of the stone balustrade is walled up at the bottom so that women’s ankles would not be seen as they walked up the church steps. Having viewed the grand interior, step out into the similarly splendid courtyard with its central well-crown and lush vegetation making it a green oasis when it catches the sun.
Dubrovnik’s Dominican Friary is easily found on foot, located off a narrow passageway behind the Sponza Palace leading to the Ploce Gate marking Dubrovnik’s Old Town. You can reach the gate via public transport on bus lines 1A, 1B, 3 or 8 from the main bus station and port.
]]>