Westmalle Abbey is a monastery of the Cistercians of Strict Observance. The community was founded in 1794 and elevated to an abbey on 22 April 1836. It is the home of the Westmalle Brewery, a Trappist beer brewery.
Up to today the Trappist abbey of Westmalle remains a remarkable element and continues its activities as a monastery and a brewery.
The abbey has a rich an old patrimony containing old master paintings and valuable manuscripts by important artists Frans Francken the Elder, Albrecht Dürer, Jacob van Baelen, Constantin Meunier, Willem Vorsterman, Louis Grosse, Maerten de Vos, Jan Erasmus Quellinus, and others.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.