Grootseminarie (Major Seminary)

A unique place with an orchard and meadows with cows at pasture. Between 1628 and 1642, a new Cistercian Abbey (the Dune Abbey) was erected here, which later on would achieve great fame for the wealth and erudition of its occupants. During the French Revolution, the abbey was brought under public ownership, and the abbot and monks were chased away. The abbey buildings were first used as a military hospital and then as a military depot and a grammar school before they were eventually taken over by the Major Seminary in 1833, where Catholic priests received their religious instruction until 2018. Today, the Major Seminary serves as an educational and training facility for the diocese.