Another weekend, another road trip. This time we went to the county of Conca de Barberà to visit the Cistercian Monastery of Santa Maria de Poblet. The Cistercians are a fun bunch who strive for strict austerity and lives focused on two objectives: prayer and work. The monastery has housed communities as large as one hundred monks in its 800-year history, and today there are thirty monks who call it their home.
The monastery has a nice little website with some pictures of the monks’ daily life. You can also see their daily schedule (not for the snoozers among us)Â and read their blogs (yes, monks with blogs!).
Here are some photos from our brief glimpse into the world of the monastery.