Trappist Monastery Ruins

The Trappist Monastery Ruins recall a complex of religious architecture unique to Manitoba. The ruins also recall the St. Norbert area's distinct character as an early French-speaking Metis community associated with prominent Manitoba figures such as Father Noel-Joseph Ritchot, who, along with Archbishop A-A. Tache, invited Cistercians of the Trappist order in France to establish the monastery in 1892. Notre Dame des Prairies subsequently provided a private, tranquil existence for the Trappists, one centred on a Romanesque Revival church as their spiritual nucleus, the attached monastic wing and several self-supporting agricultural enterprises, all situated on a secluded peninsula of the La Salle River. Built by the monks to plans sent from their abbey, the exceptional church, in keeping with Cistercian values, featured simple architecture and minimal ornamentation. The monastic wing held the monks' modest rooms, lecture halls, and reception and service areas. In 1983, a few years after the Trappists moved to a new site, fire reduced the monastic wing to its foundation and the church to a shell. The stabilized ruins, and the grounds featuring mature trees, expanses of lawn and open fields, now form the Trappist Monastery Provincial Heritage Park.