Together we create a new future for St Godelieve’s Abbey

Peter De Wilde

Together with you, inhabitants, entrepreneurs, visitors and many other partners, Visit Flanders is working on a new – touristic – future at St Godelieve’s Abbey. ‘De Tuin van Heden’ we call this co-creative search.

Anyone who embarks on a journey always has to start somewhere. In ‘de Tuin van Heden’, that starting point is what we call ‘sense of place’. Today, you too will become acquainted with the sense of this place. It is about the history of the abbey and its inhabitants. About the role that St. Godelieve’s Abbey played for the wide surroundings. About spirituality, the convictions, customs and objects that shaped daily life here for almost four hundred years... By pondering about which initiatives and activities are desirable and necessary to turn this religious heritage gem of Bruges into a flourishing and vibrant destination that offers added value to residents, (international) visitors and local entrepreneurs, we give shape to Visit Flanders’s ‘Travel to Tomorrow’ philosophy. Travel to Tomorrow is about the real value of visits and travel, the soul of places, proud inhabitants who share their stories, the creativity and hospitality of entrepreneurs, the transforming power of encounters with other places, cultures and people. In short: in-depth and balanced tourism, with a positive impact on both prosperity and well-being.

Respect for the 400 years of history that ended in 2013, when sister Sabien, the abbess of St Godelieve’s Abbey, closed the monastery door for good, is a matter of course. In her beautiful wish for the future of the abbey, sister Sabien puts it this way: “May every visitor have a taste of the love and endless care with which the Benedictine nuns, over the centuries, have cared for every object.”

We invite you to explore the abbey as a time traveller and co-architect of the future, but also to follow the rest of the journey of ‘de Tuin van Heden’ on detuinvanheden.be.

Peter De Wilde, CEO Tourism Flanders Kristof Lataire, project manager Garden of Heden Sister Sabien, abbess of St Godelieve Abbey