St. Paul's Abbey was a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

in the Netherlands. In 1580 it was the second oldest monastery in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, second only to

Egmond Abbey Egmond Abbey or St. Adalbert's Abbey ( nl, Abdij van Egmond, ''Sint-Adelbertabdij'') is a Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of the Annunciation between Egmond aan den Hoef and Bakkum in Egmond-Binnen in the municipality of Bergen in th ...

in the

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

History

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

Leusden Leusden () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located about 3 kilometres southeast of Amersfoort. The western part of the municipality lies on the slopes of the Utrecht Hill Ridge and is largely co ...

. In approximately 1020 the monastery adopted the

Rule of Saint Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

. By 1050 the Monastery, now under Bishop Bernold, had relocated to

, which was already the administrative and ecclsestical focus of an important

imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

prince-bishopric. Here they settled directly to the south of what is now the city's

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

. Dedicated to the

Apostle Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, the abbey church was consecrated on 26 June 1050. Architecturally the church was closely related to the nearby St. Peter's Church, built around the same time. St. Paul's Abbey church was a Romanesque building with a conventional three-part nave (incorporating a side aisle on each side of the main nave). It was constructed from tuff stone and featured twin towers at its west end. During the course of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

the abbey was deconsecrated. In 1595 the Court of Utrecht was housed in the monastery buildings, while the abbey church was transferred to the religious community of St. Salvator, whose own church had been demolished in 1587/88. Most of the nave of the church was demolished in 1707, and the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

met the same fate in 1804. 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. The site of the monastery is now the location of the Utrecht Archives.

References

Charlotte J.C. Broer, 2007: ''Utrechts oudste kloosters. Van Sint-Salvator tot Sint-Paulus, Utrecht.'' Benedictine monasteries in the Netherlands Monasteries dissolved under the Dutch Reformation History of Utrecht (city) Christian monasteries established in the 11th century Buildings and structures demolished in 1707 Demolished buildings and structures in the Netherlands Buildings and structures in Utrecht (city) {{Netherlands-struct-stub