TINTERN ABBEY

One of the three Cistercian abbeys of the country and which has inspired many artists. William Wordsworth wrote in Lines Composed A Few Miles above Tintern Abbey: "Five years have passed; five summers as long / Only five endless winters! And again I hear / These waters that roll from the springs of the mountains / With a soft earthly murmur. - Again / I can admire these high escarpments / Which in this wild and almost deserted place give birth / The idea of greater solitude, and unite / The landscape to the peace of heaven. - The Day / It came for me to calm down again."

The abbey was built in 1131 by the Cistercian order and was, until 1536, the place of retreat for monks. The site, surrounded by wooded valleys and on the other by the river, proved to be favourable to their desire to return to the monastic precepts of Saint Benedict, isolating themselves to reject all forms of material temptation and seek spiritual peace.

Today, we drive under majestic arches in the open air, in a superb natural setting, to the delight of the eyes. Tintern is one of the few abbeys to have been preserved during the war led by Edward II. Today, the abbey still has the 72-metre-long Gothic church, the ruins of the domestic quarters and the novice hall. The abbots were often buried in the church, some tombstones still remain. Although in ruins, Tintern remains the best preserved medieval abbey in the country and is worth a visit.