rievaulx

throughout the world there are sacred places - structures, rooms, even very tiny spaces like an altar or an assemblage in a home or in a quiet spot tucked away deep in a woodlot.

one of my dreams has been to one day design and then see built a space in which people regardless of demonination or belief - in short, without concern for anything other than being as present as is possible in that moment - could be.

abandoned sacred spaces are a source of wonder to me. i think of the men and women who peopled the space and then too of the revelations, the hardship, the sorrows and joys that would accompany such devotion.

one of the more beautiful places i have been that once housed a thriving community of devoted monks is rievaulx abbey. rievaulx was a cistercian monastery, founded in a remote valley in the yorkshire wolds. a more beautiful setting, and i feel certain based on the remains, a more beautiful building could not be imagined.


please spend a moment imagining what this building must have represented to those less fortunate who lived outside its soaring form. it must have been breathtaking and almost incomprehensible. remember, this building was started in the thirteenth century!

if yorkshire abbeys are of interest to you then go here: http://cistercians.shef.ac.uk/
this page will give you both an overview of the work and activities of the cistercians in yorkshire as well as the history and specifics of the incredible structures they created both material and spiritual.