Abtei St. Hildegard in Eibingen, Germany

Abtei St. Hildegard (the Benedictine Abbey of St. Hildegard)
rules a hilltop in Eibingen, a rural borough of Rudesheim.
080715_144128
Reaching it entails a steep 30 to 40 minute hike on paved but scarcely
trafficked roads up from Rudesheim on the east bank of the Rhine River.
080715_143208080715_143228
One of the sisters told me that forty-eight nuns live here and work together to tend crops,
harvest grapes, and package foods grown on-site for sale in their gift shop.
080715_144136080715_144238
Visitors are welcome to just walk the grounds unannounced, as we did,
or make advance arrangements to attend classes, explore the nuns’ art gallery,
or even take a private bedroom for a week-long spiritual retreat.
080715_144328080715_144446
I’d tell you the views from here are spectacular, but
that’s going to get redundant quickly as I share more from Rudesheim.
080715_144228

8 July 2015, 2:41 pm

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *