Drongen Abbey, or theOld Abbey, Drongen (Dutch:Abdij van Drongen, Oude Abdij van Drongen), is a monastic complex on the RiverLeie inDrongen, a part of the city ofGhent inEast Flanders,Belgium.
Formerly aPremonstratensianabbey, since 1837 the premises have belonged to theJesuits. In 1998 the whole property, including the garden, was declared a protected monument.
In the Middle Ages there were two legends regarding the abbey's foundation in the 7th century. According to one, the abbey was built by a certain Basinus, king of Basotes; according to the other, its founder was SaintAmandus, who also founded in Ghent during the same periodSt. Peter's Abbey andSt. Bavo's Abbey. The first occupants weresecular canons. TheNormans destroyed the abbey in 853 but underBaldwin II, Count of Flanders (879–918), lord of Drongen, it was rebuilt.[1]
In 1136 Iwein, Count ofAalst, lord ofWaas, Drongen andLiedekerke, founded aPremonstratensian abbey at Salegem (Vrasene,Beveren). Two years later, in 1138, the new abbey was moved to Drongen, when the canons accepted the Premonstratensian rules.[1]
In 1566 the abbey suffered from theBeeldenstormer (Iconoclasts), and in 1578, during the Ghent Republic, theCalvinists drove out the fathers, who took refuge in theHof van Drongen, and destroyed the abbey. Its possessions fell into the hands ofWilliam the Silent, but were given back by his heirs.
The abbey church was rebuilt in 1638, and the monastic buildings between 1638 and 1698, leaving the abbey much the same as it is now.
In 1796, during theFrench Revolution, the fathers were again driven out, and the abbey suppressed and sold off.Lieven Bauwens installed a cotton mill, which went bankrupt in 1836, and a dyeworks usingmadder root.[1]
In 1836 theJesuits bought part of the abbey buildings for the use of their novices, and in 1848 they bought the remainder of the property. The training continued until 1968, when it stopped for want of vocations, but they continued to provide meditations and retreats, for individuals and groups, and thus the abbey became a retreat centre. Older Jesuits continued to live there, and the abbey also became a Jesuit retirement home.[1]
The octagonal abbey church in white stone, with a small cupola, was rebuilt in 1734 after a fire. Known as St. Gerolf's Church, it now serves as the parish church of the centre of Drongen.[2]
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51°02′59″N3°39′50″E / 51.04972°N 3.66389°E /51.04972; 3.66389
