Monday, August 06, 2018

St. Bernard De Clairvaux (The Ancient Spanish Monastery) North Miami Beach, Florida


All who present themselves are to be welcomed.”
Rule of Benedict 53.1




When we did our Miami trip in February, we took some extra days to see more places in Florida and the Miami area. Miami is a lovely city and great to visit. Today this city looks all bright, and new, especially with the sun shining and the sky clear blue on this most perfect day. We drove in on a Friday morning and timed it perfectly when there was minimal traffic. I had read about this Ancient Spanish Monastery and knew we had to go to see it. We were driving in a very busy and not so nice of a section of the city in North Miami Beach and we were thinking this was not going to be so good. Were we wrong. We pulled into the parking area and even that was gorgeous with large trees and Spanish moss draped over their branches. When we got out of the car we heard the birds serenading us. What a nice welcoming we had. We walked into the office and museum pay to go inside. We paid for our tickets and got a military discount. We only paid four dollars instead of the ten is usually costs. Thanks Joe for your service.




We walked through the gate and entered the courtyard where we could see the monastery. It is so impressive looking with the arched double doorway and the bell tower above. It did look as if it had been here for century’s. The gardens were nicely landscaped and well cared for with beautiful flowers and trees. As we walked around the cloister there was so much to see. What a gem of a place to see with the old stone walls and floors, the walkways around the inside courtyard with pillars precisely placed all the way around, the ancient statues, beautiful fountain, gardens, and the pictures. The chapel was lovely with the beautiful stained glass windows. What an amazing place and so worth the money. What an incredible accomplishment taking this monastery apart, shipping it, and putting it back together piece by piece. This is the oldest European built structure in the western hemisphere and sits on six acres of land. Here is a bit of history about this amazing place.



This medieval cloister was originally built about two miles from Sacramenia, Segovia Spain in the twelfth century. Sacramenia is a mountain region about 830 m above sea level and in a region that has lots of medieval churches, chapels, monastery, castles, and walls. It was built between 1133-1141 and was originally named “Monetary of our lady, Queen of the Angels.” It was later renamed to honor Bernard Clairvaux when he was canonized. The building was used as and Cistercian monetary for almost 700 years. Seven hundred years is along time and that alone is hard to imagine. It was later sold in the 1830's to be used as a granary and stable.


The monastery stayed active till 1835. William Randolph Hearst bought the cloister and out buildings in 1925 and had it taken apart, numbered, and packaged in wooden crates with hay for shipping. It took 11,000 crates to have it moved. Some of the information was lost when the crates were brought to the US and quarantined because of an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease in Segovia. They opened the crate and burned the hay so the disease wouldn't spread. When they repacked the contents, they were not put back correctly. Hearst was unable to fund the project because of financial issues, and the crates were stored in a Brooklyn, New York warehouse. Raymond Moss and William Edgemon bought and reassembled the crates on the North Miami site in 1964 making it one of the largest puzzles ever to be put together. The reconstruction of the historic building took 19 months and cost 1.5 million dollars to complete and when all was said and done, and they finished with left over stones that were not used.





The property was purchased by Bishop Henry Louttit in 1964 for the Episcopal Diocese of south Florida but financial issues made them sell. It was then purchased by Col. Robert Pentland Jr. who gave it to the Episcopal parish of St. Bernard De Clairvaux.


It is open from Monday through Saturday from 10 to 4 and Sundays 11-4. What a great place this would be for a wedding. If you are in Miami and want to see something historic and beautiful, this is the place for you. Amazing. We absolutely loved it. Www.spanishmonastery.com.


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