St. Bernard de Clairvaux

Goooood Morning! 

This weekend being Thanksgiving and all, I wanted to do something different.
For all those history fans... I WENT TO A MONASTERY!

...not just any Monastery... one of the two in the world where they have kaleidoscope stained glass windows. Unfortunately, I could not take any pictures of these, since they were inside the church.

The Windows were used to hold off assailants trying to invade inside the church. Civilians would have weapons, on the inside of the window, attacking those who wanted to invade the church.

A little bit of history behind our story;

The construction of the Monastery and Cloisters of St. Bernard de Clairvaux began in Sacramenia, Spain in the year of 1133 AD. It was completed in 1141AD, the Monastery was orignally named after the Virgin Mary. Upon Canonization, the Monastery was renamed to St. Bernard de Clairvaux in his honor.

After 700 years, a social revolution in the 1830's, the Cloisters were seized, sold, and converted into a granary ans stable.

In 1925, William Randolph Hearst purchased the Cloisters and the Monastery's outbuildings. The structures were dismantled stone by stone and brought here to Miami, Florida. The shipment was actually held in quarantine due to a hoof and mouth disease spread.

After the shipments arrived, financial problems caused the Hearst to auction the collection. They remained in storage for 26 years. One year after the Hearst death, it was purchased by William Edgemon and Raymond Moss for usage as a tourist attraction. It took 19 months and almost 1.5 million dollars to assemble back the Monastery. No wonder these folks also went through a financial struggle and decided to sell.

In 1964 it was sold to Col. Robert Pentland Jr., a wealthy philanthropist and benefactor of many churches. And this is how the church came to the United states. As you can guys can see, it took over a century to bring the church to life again.

It is a well worth tour, with beautiful gardens all around, fountains and gorgeous detailed walls and ceilings, it makes a top 5 place in Miami to visit.

Some parts of the Monastery actually reminded me of Dorne from Game of Thrones (I'm a huge fan, don't hate!) Uh.... DUH! 
Some parts of Dorne was actually filmed in Seville, Spain (water gardens); and many other locations in Spain. No wonder they have resemblances, they are both Spaniard.

St. Bernard de Clairvaux

Water Gardens; Seville, Spain

PS: Can we go back in time, and live in beautiful places like these?

The inside of the church, has a beautiful and meaningful marble carving about the night Christ was born. The priest on location put me to think and ponder about its meaning. As we all stood there and witness this gorgeous piece, hand carved from Italian Marble, I couldn't help but wonder what secrets does this church hold.

It goes back into Crusaders time. Imagine all the pillage these crusaders did in the name of the Latin Church, trying to have one main religion and unity of force. It is said that the knights of templars (a bit later in history late 1700's) were a cult.

What is your favorite period in history? Any site visits to check out what you can find out about it?
I would have never guessed that a historical building such as this, lived between the streets of Miami.
I am planning some international trips next year, to be able to visit more historical sites.

My boyfriend and I are huge fans of history, although I do not know so much, I have my own private teacher to take me around ;)

Comment below and let me know your favorite locations to visit! :)
Do you know any Miami locations that I should know about?

Interested in visiting the Monastery? Click here ↠ Miami Monastery