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Founded: 1112Category: Religious sites in France
Historical period: Birth of Capetian dynasty (France)
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The Abbaye Blanche ('White Abbey'), was a nunnery founded in 1112 in Mortain. Shortly after establishing an abbey for men called Holy Trinity of Savigny, Saint Vitalis, founder of the monastic order of Savigny, set up the Abbaye Blanche for women. The church is built on a Latin cross floorplan of a central nave and a wide transept. The style is Early Gothic, though unfortunately only the chapter house, cellar and Romanesque cloister remain in their original 12th-century form.
Although few of the customs from the time of Vitalis survive today, the nuns of the Abbaye Blanche wore undyed rule and followed a very strict interpretation of the Rule of Saint Benedict. The communities of Holy Trinity and the Abbaye Blanche joined the Cistercian order in 1147, as did the other 30 or so houses of the Order of Savigny.
References:House of the Blackheads (Melngalvju nams) is a building situated in the old town of Riga. The original building was erected during the first third of the 14th century for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild for unmarried German merchants in Riga. Major works were done in the years 1580 and 1886, adding most of the ornaments.
The structure was bombed to a ruin by the Germans June 28, 1941 and the remains demolished by the Soviets in 1948. The current reconstruction was erected from 1995 to 1999. Today the House of Blackheads serves as a museum and sometimes concert hall.