Orval Abbey

Orval Abbey (Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval) is a Cistercian monastery founded in 1132 in the Gaume region of Belgium, located in Villers-devant-Orval, part of Florenville, Wallonia in the province of Luxembourg.

The abbey is well known for its history and spiritual life but also for its local production of the Trappist beer Orval and a specific cheese.

They were replaced by a community of Canons Regular,[2] who completed the construction work: the abbey church was consecrated on 30 September 1124.

Between 1926 and 1948, under the direction of the Trappist monk Marie-Albert van der Cruyssen, the new monastery was constructed, and in 1936 Orval regained the rank of abbey.

According to this, the widowed Mathilda of Tuscany was visiting the site, when she lost her wedding ring in a spring, to her great distress.

She exclaimed "Truly this place is a Val d'Or (Golden Valley)", from which the name "Orval" is derived, and in gratitude made available the funds for the foundation of the monastery here.