Strata Florida Abbey

Overview

The remains of Strata Florida Abbey at the western edge of the Welsh Cambrian Mountains are the relics of a community of Cistercian monks who settled there in 1164. They founded a library that included national records from the earliest periods, works of the bards, and genealogies of the Princes and great families in Wales. The monks also compiled a valuable history of Wales, down to the death of Llewellyn the Great.

Descriptio Positionis Seu Situationis Monasterii Claraevallensis, is a twelfth-century description of the site and surroundings of Clairvaux abbey in France, headquarters of the Cistercian monastic order. The text sets out the author's deep appreciation and gratitude for the cooperative interactivity of human beings, other species, the land, water, and air that assured their mutual integrity. This view predates by centuries the current efforts to develop ethical principles that can guide ecological resilience.

It is therefore a good place to contemplate the state of Earth's ecosystems and their cultural significance in human social evolution.

http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1220&cont...

The remains of the abbey are the subject of a multidisciplinary education programme of Trinity St David University.

http://www.strataflorida.org.uk/uploads/teachers_handbook.pdf

For more information go to: http://resilience-wales.wikispaces.com/Strata+Florida+Abbey

Wales: Cultural Ecology Map 1
updated 07/2014 by Resilience Wales