Tintern Abbey

One of Britain’s most celebrated monastic ruins and a major sacred-heritage tourism destination in the Wye Valley. The site is in Tintern, Monmouthshire, Wales. Founded in 1131 as a Cistercian monastery, Tintern developed a major Gothic church and monastic complex before the Dissolution.

Tintern Abbey was founded in 1131 as a Cistercian monastery in the Wye Valley. Its great Gothic church, begun in the thirteenth century, became the architectural centre of a substantial monastic complex before the house was dissolved in 1536. The roofless ruins later became celebrated through art, literature and tourism.

Its inclusion here rests on major monastic and sacred-heritage significance rather than a specific miracle or apparition tradition. Architecturally, the site is associated with Cistercian Gothic. Its sacred history is now read largely through ruins, archaeology and landscape rather than through a resident religious community. Current access arrangements should be checked with the body responsible for the site.