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St. Benedict's Monastery

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1959, Brother Blaise Drayton. 1012 Monastery Rd. off Capitol Creek Rd., 2 miles south of Snowmass

Trappist monks (the Benedictine Order of Cistercians of Strict Observance) built the spartan green brick monastery and chapel on this 3,800-acre ranch along the headwaters of Capitol Creek. Inside the Neo-Romanesque compound, the chapel is a stark brick hall with no pews, only benches around the walls, and a minimalist altar, all under a high ceiling with raw wood beams. The monks support themselves by raising cattle, chickens, and sheep and selling their celebrated cookies. The public is welcome for mass and for morning and evening prayers, but otherwise the monks ask to be left in solitude.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Thomas J. Noel
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Data

What's Nearby

Spruce Lodge
Windstar Foundation
Rocky Mountain Institute
Snowmass Village
Snowmass Villas

Citation

Thomas J. Noel, "St. Benedict's Monastery", [Snowmass, Colorado], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-PT39.

Print Source

Buildings of Colorado, Thomas J. Noel. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 500-500.

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