Visit to the ruins of Villers Abbey

Villers Abbey was for 650 years one of the great Cistercian abbeys of Europe. Today it is a complex of enormous ruins, Romanesque, Gothic and classical, in the Thyle valley: the roofless abbey church, the cloister, the monks' refectory, the warming room, which was the only heated room, the guesthouse and the brewery. The river runs beneath the buildings, and since 1855 the train has crossed the ruins on a viaduct. Victor Hugo drew on its dungeons for part of Les Misérables.

Price and hours

€10 for adults, €8 for over-65s and students, €4 for ages 6 to 12 and free for under-6s. Open every day: from November to March from 10:00 to 17:00 and from April to October until 18:00; on weekends in July and August, until 20:00. Last entry, one hour earlier. In strong wind it may close.

Guide

A free app with a map, reconstructions, podcast and videos accompanies the visit. On Sundays at 14:30 there is a guided tour about the monks' life.