Næste gang: 21. juni

Taste the abbey garden

Take in the scents of the blooming monastery garden and taste different monastic products - medicinal herbs, beer and jams from European monasteries. Hear stories about the plants in the monastery garden in Esrum and around Europe.

How did the monks use the plants medicinally? What worked and what didn't?
Where do plants come from? How did the monks cultivate the land? And what was the monks' view of nature?

Learn how the monks at Esrum Monastery have grown vegetables, fruits and herbs to supply the monastery's kitchen and their nursing care in the many gardens

Tickets

Sunday, June 21st

14:00 - 15:30

Adult

225 kr.

Buy a ticket

Sunday, August 16th

14:00 - 15:30

Adult

225 kr.

Buy a ticket

Taste the monastery garden

At ‘Taste the Monastery Garden’ you will taste, sense and learn about the monastery garden. The many plants, fruits and herbs in the garden each had their own function in the heyday of the monastery, and we tell you how the monks used them both in the kitchen and in their nursing.

You’ll taste the herbs in the garden as well as beer, jams and other products produced in living monasteries in Europe by nuns and monks who carry on ancient crafts and traditional recipes. You’ll learn what healing effects the plants had according to the monks’ beliefs and get a lot of stories with a twinkle in your eye.

The many gardens

The monks’ desire to live secluded from the outside world also means that they must be self-sufficient. They have grown vegetables, fruits and herbs to supply the monastery’s kitchen in their many gardens.

It’s likely that there were a multitude of different gardens within the monastery walls. However, it is also conceivable that large areas outside the walls were used for horticulture, so the gardens extended on the hillsides outside the monastery walls, by the lakes and even around the monastery barns.

Read about Klosterhaven

Plant properties

According to the monks, every plant had a property and could be used to treat diseases. The monks knew of around 250 medicinal plants that they processed for use in their nursing. They used roots, seeds, leaves, fruits and both fresh and dry plant parts.

Diet and medicine were two sides of the same coin. The monks believed that consuming the various plants, fruits and herbs in the garden could have a healing effect on sick patients.

Taste the abbey garden - Esrum Kloster & Møllegård
Taste the abbey garden - Esrum Kloster & Møllegård
Taste the abbey garden - Esrum Kloster & Møllegård
Taste the abbey garden - Esrum Kloster & Møllegård
Taste the abbey garden - Esrum Kloster & Møllegård
Taste the abbey garden - Esrum Kloster & Møllegård

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