Trappistenabtei Rochefort 3.02

The Trappist Abbey of Rochefort or Abbey of Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy, which belongs to the Cistercians of Strict Observance, is located in Rochefort in the province of Namur (Wallonia, Belgium). The abbey is famous for its spiritual life and its brewery, which is one of few Trappist beer breweries in the world. Life in the abbey is characterised by prayer, reading and manual work, the three basic elements of Trappist life. The motto of the abbey is Curvata Resurgo.HistoryEarly historyAround 1230, Gilles de Walcourt, count of Rochefort founded a monastery for Cistercian nuns called Secours de Notre-Dame. In 1464 Louis de la Marck ordered the nuns to leave the monastery which had decayed and they were replaced by monks. The monastery was the latest Daughter-house of the abbey of Abbey of Cîteaux. During the Eighty Years War the abbey was ravaged by the Protestant armies of the Seventeen Provinces (1568) and the Austrian armies of John of Austria (1577). Around 1595, the first brewery was founded within the abbey.