Gimsøy Abbey, Medieval Benedictine monastery in Skien, Norway
Gimsøy Abbey was a Benedictine monastery located on Klosterøya, an island in the Farelva river flowing through Skien municipality. The complex occupied the eastern section of this island.
The monastery was founded in the early 1200s by Dag Eilivsson and Ragnhild Skoftesdotter after they returned from a Crusade to Jerusalem. This pilgrimage inspired them to establish the site.
English masons built the stone structure, and the first nuns came from England, continuing their religious life here for centuries.
The site occupies private land with no visible structures above ground level. You should know that the location is not publicly accessible today.
This was the first monastery in Norway founded specifically for women religious communities. This distinction made it an important place for the development of female convents in Scandinavia.
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