Gud­hem Abbey was foun­ded in 1161. It belong­ed ori­gi­nal­ly to the ear­li­er Benedicti­ne order, which was later suc­cee­ded by the Cister­ci­an order. Despi­te the beau­ti­ful loca­tion and views toward lake Horn­bor­ga­sjön and the table­top mountains, plans were soon made to relocate.

In 1340 the nuns moved to Aranäs farm at Kin­ne­kul­le, but they soon retur­ned to Gud­hem, which remai­ned the home of the con­vent until the Refor­ma­tion. In 1529 the abbey was redu­ced to ash by a vio­lent fire and was never rebuilt. Thanks to excel­lent con­ser­va­tion work it is easy to get an over­vi­ew of the enti­re abbey today. An abbey muse­um has been cre­a­ted near Gud­hem royal estate.

Gud­hem abbey is men­tio­ned in Jan Guillou’s novel about the hero Arn. It was at Gud­hem abbey that Arn’s fian­cée Ceci­lia ended her 20 years of penan­ce whi­le Arn was figh­ting as a knight templar. Next to the muse­um is a small abbey gar­den con­tai­ning herbs and medi­e­val roses.

Hit­ta Hit