St. Paul's Abbey, Utrecht

The origins of the abbey went back to the foundation, by Bishop Afsried in approximately 1000, of a monastery at Hohorst near Leusden.

By 1050 the Monastery, now under Bishop Bernold, had relocated to Utrecht, which was already the administrative and ecclsestical focus of an important imperial prince-bishopric.

Dedicated to the Apostle Paul, the abbey church was consecrated on 26 June 1050.

It was constructed from tuff stone and featured twin towers at its west end.

Today all that survives of the church is a section of transept wall, integrated into the row of substantial houses that now lines the Hofpoort Street.

St. Paul's Abbey in the sixteenth century. Model by G.M.J. Engelbregt and J.B.A. Terlingen (2010)