Orval 
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Location
Amid the quiet and picturesque forest of the Gaume, right on the French border, lies the most extensive and most beautiful monastery in Belgium, the Trappist abbey of Notre Dame d'Orval which has had a moving history. There is a legend about the name "Orval" (from the French "val d'or" = golden valley). It tells that Countess Mathilde of Chiny, Duchess of Lower Lorraine, was one day resting near a spring and lost her ring which fell into the water. Saddened she prayed in a nearby chapel and a miracle occurred: a trout brought the ring back to her at which she cried out "this place must really be a golden valley"; the Romans had already described it as such. The arms of the monastery depict this legend by showing a blue stream on which the trout rises with the ring in its mouth. The monks run a flourishing farm and the monastery is famous for its cheese.
History
The first monastery in the "golden valley" is said to have been founded in 1070 by Benedictines from Calabria in southern Italy.
Amid the quiet and picturesque forest of the Gaume, right on the French border, lies the most extensive and most beautiful monastery in Belgium, the Trappist abbey of Notre Dame d'Orval which has had a moving history. There is a legend about the name "Orval" (from the French "val d'or" = golden valley). It tells that Countess Mathilde of Chiny, Duchess of Lower Lorraine, was one day resting near a spring and lost her ring which fell into the water. Saddened she prayed in a nearby chapel and a miracle occurred: a trout brought the ring back to her at which she cried out "this place must really be a golden valley"; the Romans had already described it as such. The arms of the monastery depict this legend by showing a blue stream on which the trout rises with the ring in its mouth. The monks run a flourishing farm and the monastery is famous for its cheese.
History
The first monastery in the "golden valley" is said to have been founded in 1070 by Benedictines from Calabria in southern Italy.
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