Tautra Abbey

Tautra Abbey (Norwegian: Tautra Mariakloster) was a monastery of Cistercian monks founded in the 13th century on the island of Tautra in the Trondheimsfjord. That abbey flourished and lasted until the 16th, when it was closed as part of Norway's acceptance of the Protestant Reformation. At the end of the 20th century, a community of Trappistine nuns formed a new monastery . It is part of the municipality of Frosta in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway.

Ruins of the nave and the portal in the west front

Transitional building of the new abbey with chapel and guest house

First abbey

In 1207, the Cistercian monastery of Tautra or Tuterø Abbey was founded here. It was founded by monks from Lyse Abbey near Bergen. The site was an attractive one, and the earlier foundation of Munkeby Abbey seems to have been transferred here shortly after the foundation of this house. The abbey grew wealthy and powerful, and its abbots often played a major part in Norwegian politics. Tautra Abbey was dissolved during the Reformation in Scandinavia in 1537, its lands were passed to the Crown, but the sizeable ruins of the church are still to be seen.

Second abbey

The present Tautra Monastery (Norwegian: Tautra Mariakloster) is a newly founded Trappistine community, and it is the first permanent Cistercian settlement in Norway since the Reformation. It was founded in 1999, near the ruins of the medieval monastery. The foundation stone was laid by Queen Sonja of Norway on 23 May 2003. The new abbey was granted autonomy on 26 May 2006.

The seven Trappist nuns who established the monastery hope to be a point of contact and exchange between the Norwegian tradition and Cistercian spirituality.

External links

• Tautra Abbey website
• Katolsk.no: Tautra kloster (Norwegian)