Guest house of Villers Abbey, a photo from Brabant Wallon, Wallonia

Photographer's Note

Villers-la-Ville - Guest house of Villers Abbey

The ruins on these photos were not visible on my previous pictures (not even on the general overview).

My main photo shows the ruins of the guest house of the abbey.
The guest house-brasserie was constructed around 1240. Allegedly it was built in just 15 days.
Providing food and shelter to passers-by was the main function of this two-storey building.
There was accommodation for a hundred guests ... but not for women. (No idea whether women didn't travel at the time or where they could stay overnight)
From the 16th century, the guest house was transformed into a brewery.

Information from: https://villers.be/fr/vlog/hotellerie-brasserie

In WS1 you see the interior of the ground floor of the guest house.

WS2 shows the guest house seen from the former entrance gate (not the official entrance nowadays).
The gatehouse marked the transition between the outside world and the abbey. It was used to welcome and control those who entered the monastery.
It consisted of two buildings and two passages: one for pedestrians, the other for carts.
The porter's task was twofold: to announce the guests to the abbot so that he could come and welcome them in person, and to give alms to the poor by giving them food and the old clothes and shoes of the monks. Women were forbidden to cross the gate.

Information from: https://appli.villers.be/index.php/la-porterie/

Fis2, pierrefonds, ricardomattos, aliabazari, COSTANTINO, jemaflor, ikeharel, mcmtanyel, pajaran, macjake, worldcitizen oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

holmertz (102604) 2022-05-03 7:37

Hello Paul,
It would certainly take more than 15 days to repair the guesthouse in case anyone would give it a try. Maybe they measured days differently in the 13th century. The main photo gives us a nice view of the ruins. The trees are well placed in the foreground and the narrow road makes a fine curve up to the facade, splitting the lawn in two parts with a lot of people sitting on one of them. The light was good too. WS #1 is nicely composed in a "Silvio kind of way". The light may not have been so favourable in the other WS but we still get a good idea of the interesting interior.
Best regards,
Gert

jean113 (27819) 2022-05-03 7:57

Hello Paul, these ruins are so extensive, just imagine how they would have looked when first built? Astonishing that they were able to build so skilfully way back then.
Do not be so critical of your efforts, the shot of the interior of the ground floor is fine, giving us a good impression of the architecture and the space involved.
I like this post with the people animating the scene.
Interesting notes.
Kind regards, Jean.

Fis2 (170639) 2022-05-03 9:16

Witaj Paul!
Another nice set of photos.
Beautiful place, the ruins make impression.
I love it.
Good framing, colors and sharpness.
Well done.
Good afternoon.
Krzysztof

Silvio1953 (221463) 2022-05-03 9:44

Ciao Paul, great view of fantastic guest house, excellent perspective, fine details, wonderful colors, good clarity and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

Tue (92302) 2022-05-03 12:07

Hallo Paul,
Een mooie foto van de oude voorgevel van deze ruďne, die in een heel mooi, helder licht baadt. De twee bomen rechts, maar ook de bomen op de achtergrond zorgen voor een mooie omlijsting.
Lars

pierrefonds (114347) 2022-05-03 12:17

Bonsoir Paul,

Les arbres cadrent bien les ruines. La prise de vue permet de voir les détails des ruines des maisons d'hôte de l'abbaye de Villers. La lumičre met en valeur les couleurs de l'image. Bonne soirée.

Pierre

lousat (139170) 2022-05-03 13:39

Hi Paul,the charitable and hospitable function of the monks of the past are well represented in this post. Not all abbeys had a guest house, which is almost a surprise to me. 3 beautiful photos showing a wide view, the entrance and the interior as excellent as ever, really interesting! Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

ricardomattos (17460) 2022-05-03 16:17

Hi Paul,

Very nice picture and compositiom with this entrance. Very atractive place for me with all these beautiful ruins and facades.

Best regards

Ricardo

COSTANTINO (116377) 2022-05-03 22:17

Hello dear friend and have a nice day
and a happy evening
an interesting view with ruins
nicely composed
this photo gives to us
a good impression of the trees well
placed in the foreground
regards
Costantino

aliabazari (22089) 2022-05-03 22:19

Hello Paul
A beautiful view of the ruins of this monastery. Clarity and lighting done well. Good composition of the forest in the background. The workshop pictures show well. I like the presence of people. Thanks for sharing

jemaflor (147018) 2022-05-03 23:11

Salut Paul,
Une intéressante photo avec la présentation sous cet angle de cette ancienne façade, bon effet avec cette luminosité qui met en valeur ces vieilles pierres, bien cadré avec ces troncs ŕ droite.

Royaldevon (85862) 2022-05-04 1:53

Hello Paul,

The light might have been slightly better in your second w/s but this is a very well composed photograph with everything in the right place, the details crisp and the scene nicely animated.
Don't worry about the interior w/s scene. It has been handled well, despite your fears about the light!

This is definitely a site worth visiting for all the photographic options as well as learning about the history.

My warm regards,
Bev :-)

mkamionka (74311) 2022-05-04 7:52

Hi Paul,
Great continuation of the reportage from these ruins, which I am not surprised to be the best in Belgium. The site is very large with so many new places which you show each time. The picture in the workshop was quite successful contrary to what you wrote, by the way.

Here a nice subtle light to lit the facade. The forest behind adds a nice background.

One more thing which I forgot to mention under your previous photos. Please check position number 47 in the ranking below:
https://www.travelcharacter.com/top-50-travel-destination-in-the-world/

M

GyurMaster (24818) 2022-05-04 15:14

Hello Paul,

Although in its current state the place looks rather windy, I can imagine that this place was once a splendid guest house.

Gy.

mcmtanyel (68383) 2022-05-06 21:10

Hello Paul,
Ruins have an aura of mystery to me. These ruins are piquing my interest.
Regards,
MT

pajaran (115779) 2022-05-06 21:39

Pozdrav.

Lep pogled, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lepa stara arhitektura i drvece, dobro pokazano sa lepim bojama, kontrastom, perspektivom i uhvacenim trenutkom sa posetiocima.
Dobar rad sa lepim fotografijama u radionici.
Lepa rusevina.

Zelim vam sve najbolje za vikend.
Paja

macjake (98402) 2022-05-08 13:38

Hi Paul
on my Photoshop Elements, I often Decrease the Cyan colors, it makes a huge difference. Here in your shot I think that would have helped. There is a strong Cyan hue here, even on the stone at the entrance way, in the sky too - mostly. When its reduced, that stone would look more grey and less bluish. Just some of my thoughts - hope you don't mind. anyways, these are wonderful subjects, and I do like the WS photos, even if the interior lighting was terrible for you. It gives us an idea of what it was like, and its always fun to imagine it in its prime with lots of activity. Fun series from this Abbey
cheers
Craig

worldcitizen (16048) 2022-05-25 13:04

Hello paul,
The guest house is just as impressive as the rest of this complex. I wonder what the interior must have looked like... it's nice to see some people in front of the ruins again; they add nice pops of color to the scene.