Abbaye de la Fille-Dieu

The Abbaye de la Fille-Dieu is a Cistercian monastery located near the town of Romont in the Swiss Canton of Fribourg. Founded as a Benedictine priory in 1268, and continuously occupied by a community of nuns since its establishment, the alpine abbey is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. Heavily altered through its history, Fille-Dieu was restructured by economic turmoil, fire, additions and unsympathetic alterations. In 1906 the abbey became affiliated with the Trappists, and between 1990 and 1996 an internationally notable restoration was undertaken, modernising the monastic buildings, restoring the abbey church to its original volume, and preserving its rediscovered medieval murals, with the only contemporary element a suite of stained glass windows commissioned from the British artist Brian Clarke. Further restoration of the abbey continues today.