Abbey of the Dunes, Benedictine abbey ruins in Koksijde, Belgium

The Abbey of the Dunes in Koksijde preserves low, ruined walls of pale grey and tan stone with rectangular gaps and short projecting sections. Two short cylindrical stone columns stand upright in the grass, and on the right a raised platform of brick and stone slabs lies behind the wall. The abbey church, inaugurated in 1262, had a nave and sanctuary stretching 115 metres, making it one of the largest churches in Flanders.

The hermit Ligerius settled in the dunes near Veurne around 1107; under abbot Fulco the community joined the Cistercian order in 1138, with Robert of Bruges as first abbot. Idesbald, elected third abbot in 1155, obtained the first papal confirmation of possessions. The 13th century brought the peak: some 370 members around 1250 and an abbey church inaugurated in 1262, 115 metres long. Calvinist iconoclasts sacked the site in 1566 and troops burned it from 1578; the monks moved to Bruges, and the abbey was suppressed in 1796.

The abbey's motto was Fac necessitate virtutem, "make a virtue of necessity". Its third abbot, Idesbaldus, elected in 1155, was later recognised as a saint; when the old site was being dismantled in 1623 a lead coffin with his well-preserved remains was brought up, and devotion to him continues today.

The ruins lie in the dunes of Koksijde, near the coast, and were excavated from 1949 onward; the recovered site now forms an open-air museum. The low walls and two short columns stand in grass, with a raised brick and stone platform at the right-hand turn of the wall. Ground is partly uneven, so sturdy shoes help.

The abbey's motto was Fac necessitate virtutem, "make a virtue of necessity". Its English properties were sold in the early 14th century, and in 1623 a lead coffin recovered during the demolition of the old site was found to hold the well-preserved remains of Idesbald, the third abbot.