Ninove Abbey
| Ninove Abbey | |
|---|---|
Abdijkerk | |
 Former abbey church (Abdijkerk) of Ninove | |
  Ninove Abbey | |
| 50°54′00″N 4°01′12″E / 50.90000°N 4.02000°E | |
| Location | Ninove |
| Country | Belgium |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Religious order | Premonstratensian |
| History | |
| Founded | 1137 |
| Founder(s) | Gerard I, Lord of Ninove |
| Architecture | |
| Style | Baroque and Neoclassical |
Ninove Abbey (Dutch: abdij van Sint-Cornelius en Sint-Cyprianus), of which only the church remains in the center of Ninove, in the province of East Flanders, Belgium was a monastery of the Premonstratensian Order.
The parish church at Ninove was converted into a Premonstratensian Abbey in 1137 by Gerard I, Lord of Ninove in remembrance of his wife Gisela and himself.[1] The abbey was a filiation from Park Abbey outside Leuven.[2]
The monks settled on uncultivated lands which had been offered to them by the lord of Ninove which were near the town, on the banks of the river Dender. The community continued to grow and its financial position soon allowed it to occupy the adjacent parishes. The lay brothers undertook the farm work.
The 16th and 17th centuries were difficult times because of the political troubles and the effects of the Eighty Years' War. The 18th century brought a period of calm and prosperity. All the abbey buildings were reconstructed to the plans of Ghent architects Jan Baptist Simoens and Frans Drieghe, advised by Laurent-Benoît Dewez.[3]
The Abbey was suppressed on 1 February 1796 during the French Revolution, but at the request of the local people, the process to convert the Abbey to a Parish church began. The Abbey community was able to buy it back in a process that lasted until 1822, Many of the buildings were demolished during the first half of the 19th century. The abbey church became the parish church of the Assumption of Mary in 1813.
Footnotes
- ^ Arnoud-Jan Bijsterveld (2007). Do Ut Des: Gift Giving, Memoria, and Conflict Management in the Medieval Low Countries. Uitgeverij Verloren. p. 232. ISBN 90-6550-958-5. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
- ^ Geudens, Francis Martin (1913). . Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. The Encyclopedia Press – via Wikisource.
- ^ Listing in the register of built heritage, Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed 2018: Abdij van Sint-Cornelius en Sint-Cyprianus, Inventaris Onroerend Erfgoed. Accessed 17 February 2019.
Further reading
- Émile Poumon Abbayes de Belgique. Brussels: Office de Publicité, S.A., 1954
- J. Delmelle Abbayes et béguinages de Belgique. Brussels, 1973, p. 37.
- A.-J. Bijsterveld; D. van de Perre. Het Mirakelboek en de Stichtingsgeschiedenis van de Ninoofse Abdij. Leuven, 2001.