Executive summary by Darmansjah
Orval Abbey is a
Cistercian monastery founded in 1132 in the Gaume region of Belgium and is
located in Villers-devant-Orval, part of Florenville 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.
There is a legend of the abbey's foundation, purporting to
explain the name '"Orval" and the coat of arms. 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. When she prayed for the return
of the ring, a trout appeared on the surface of the water with the ring in its
mouth. 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.
The abbey arms show the trout and ring. The spring still supplies water to the
monastery and its brewery.
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