Orval Abbey

Orval was founded in 1132 and destroyed in 1793, and rather than rebuild on the ruins the community that refounded it in 1926 built a new abbey alongside and left the old one standing, so the visit takes in both: the roofless medieval church with its rose window, the cloister, the chapter house and the fountain, and the twentieth-century church and monastery in a stripped Romanesque style by Henry Vaes. The community brews Orval, one of the small number of beers entitled to the Trappist designation, a single beer of an unusual character fermented with Brettanomyces and dry-hopped, and makes a cheese. The brewery itself is open only a few days a year, but the beer and cheese are served at the inn outside the gate.

What you actually see

• The roofless medieval church - ruins with the rose window standing.
• The 1930s abbey - a stripped Romanesque rebuild alongside the old one.
• The Matilda fountain - the spring at the heart of the abbey's founding story.
• Trappist beer and cheese - made here and served at the gate.

When to go

April to October; the site is open year round with shorter winter hours. Two to three hours. The brewery opens to the public only a handful of days a year and tickets go by ballot. Weekends are busy.

Honest expectations

The brewery is essentially closed to visitors and the few open days are heavily oversubscribed. The monastery itself is enclosed and not open. Interpretation is in French. The inn outside is busy and prices are high.

Nearby

Torgny is south; Florenville and the Semois lie north.