Nonneseter Abbey, Bergen

[1] Nonneseter Abbey is first recorded by name in 1262, but was certainly founded many years earlier, possibly in about 1150.

It was a prestigious establishment, and several members of the royal family entered the convent.

It appears that the Nonneseter Abbey experienced a downturn after the Black death and during the 15th century.

On an unknown date, king Christian I transferred the income, estates and land of Nonneseter to the Munkeliv Abbey to compensate them for the 1455 fire.

This was done since the Nonneseter Abbey was almost empty, and the few nuns which remained were moved to an unnamed convent of their order.

The nunnery underwent secularisation in 1528, and the premises were converted into a private fortified residence, under the name of Lungegården, by the new proprietor, Vincens Lunge.

[9] The Romanesque tower foot is more old-fashioned in style than the body of the main church apparently was, indicating the possibility that it could have belonged to an older structure predating the arrival of the Cistercians with their characteristic building style.

The graveyard was to the north of the church, and the monastic buildings to the south, but there are too few remains of them to establish the exact layout.