Lilbosch Abbey

Main entrance, with the guest wing to the right

Lilbosch Abbey (Dutch: Abdij Lilbosch) is a monastery of the Trappists (Cistercians of the Strict Observance) founded in 1883 and located in Lilboscherveld in Echt, Limburg, in the Netherlands.

The abbey is largely self-sufficient thanks to its own farm, which has an area of 110 hectares and supports not only the cultivation of crops but also free-range pig-keeping, calf-rearing and bee-keeping. The farming techniques are organic, as far as possible. Apart from the farmland the abbey has another 30 hectares or so of natural uncultivated land.[1]

History

Lilbosch Abbey was founded from Achel Abbey which at the time was receiving many applicants for admission. The third abbot of Achel, Dom Bernardus Maria van der Seyp, therefore looked for a new location for expansion. The choice fell on an area of marshy ground in the district of Echt. The founding group arrived in 1883. The new foundation flourished, and in 1912 Lilbosch was elevated to the status of an abbey.[2]

Lilbosch owned a guest house built in 1890, which is now the Hof van Herstal restaurant.[2]

The abbey has a chapel in a bunker and an aeroplane monument as memorials to World War II.[2]

Since 2003 another Cistercian monastery nearby, Tegelen Abbey, also known as Uelingsheide or the Abbey of Onze Lieve Vrouw Onbevlekt Ontvangen ("Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception"), at Tegelen has been subordinate to Lilbosch Abbey.

Lilbosch Abbey church was renovated in 2012-2013.

As of 2013 the community numbered 13 monks.

Natura 2000

The abbey is part of the Natura 2000 area "Abdij Lilbosch & voormalig Klooster Mariahoop" because of the colonies of bats.

References

  1. ↑ "Limburgs Kloostervarken". livar.nl (in Dutch). Livarvarken. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Abdij Lilbosch - Echt: Cisterciënsermonniken Onze lokale historie". abdij-lilbosch.nl (in Dutch). Abdij Lilbosch. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
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Coordinates: 51°5′0″N 5°54′53″E / 51.08333°N 5.91472°E / 51.08333; 5.91472

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