Cistercian Abbeys: History and Architecture

by Jean-François Leroux-Dhuys, Henri Gaud (Photographs)

Thanks to their spirituality, asceticism, technical skills, and craftsmanship, the Cistercians became one of the most influential monastic orders of the high Middle Ages. Nine centuries ago, when the dynamic energy of the Benedictine order was threatening to ossify into mere grandeur and formalism, the Cistercians returned to the original "holy rules" of Benedict of Nursia and working with their hands. The stone witnesses of this era include majestic monastic buildings. With their austere dignity and sublime absence of decoration, Cistercian ecclesiastical buildings came to stand for awe-inspiring spiritual clarity and purity. This book presents masterpieces of Cistercian architecture in France, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Spain, and Italy. A selection of original texts, pictures, and chronological tables offers information on the artistic and cultural-historical characteristics of the individual monasteries and their inhabitants. An impressive and inspiring oeuvre!

Genres: History

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Ephrem Arcement · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent photography throughout this also very informative history of the most notable Cistercian Abbeys. It truly introduces the reader and viewer into the mystical world of Cistercian simplicity and transcendence.

[Michael Heath-Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a large book looking at the interesting and rather austere historic architectural style of the old Cistercian Abbeys.