New Norcia
I really enjoyed my recent visit to New Norcia, WA, which is Australia’s only monastic town.
I recently spent some time in the beautiful state of Western Australia. One of the most enchanting places I visited was the small town of New Norcia, 132 kilometres north of Perth. New Norcia is unique because it is Australia’s only monastic town.
New Norcia has a long history by Australian standards. Founded by Benedictine monks in 1846, the New Norcia settlement was designed to be a largely self-sufficient community, based on agriculture.
The foundation stone for the monastery was laid in 1847 and under the direction of founding bishop, Dom Rosendo Salvado, the community grew steadily in the following decades. Eventually New Norcia consisted of various churches, several Catholic schools, boarding houses, a winery, bakery, hotel, museum, petrol station, convenience store, art gallery and a vast area of farms, all run by the monks.
Today, New Norcia still stands as a visible expression of the Catholic faith in Western Australia, despite the closure of the schools. Yet the town is also a major tourist draw card, notable as much for its beautiful architecture and history as its religiosity.
I made the drive from Perth to New Norcia a few weeks ago, and thoroughly enjoyed my visit.
Visitors to the town are first greeted by the imposing Museum and Art Gallery building, which originally served as a boarding house, and stands right on the edge of the highway. It was from here that I booked one of the tours that are available.
Taking one of the tours of New Norcia is a must. The tour lasted for two hours, and we were taken through the monastery as well as the various other sites in town. The real benefit was in having a tour guide explain the significance of the various sites, as well as gaining an insight into what monastic life is like.
Some of the architecture was amazing, as were the details of the lives of the monks! My favourite place was the Abbey Church, which was filled with beautiful paintings and featured a giant Spanish altar.
New Norcia has some truly fascinating stories to tell. In1847, a bushfire threatened New Norcia. In order to save the fledgling settlement, Dom Salvado produced a painting of the Virgin Mary and pointed it in the direction of the flames, then prayed. The wind promptly changed direction and the bushfire dissipated, saving the town.
In 1984, New Norcia was the target of organised crime, when two men bound and gagged the attendant at the monastery’s art gallery and made off with 26 paintings. Many of the paintings were hundreds of years old, but were damaged by the thieves who recklessly removed them from their frames and rolled them. They slashed other artworks too, causing thousands of dollars of damage. It only took a fortnight for the Western Australian Police to catch the thieves and recover the artworks, but more than 20 years to restore them. Most have now been returned to the New Norcia art gallery where they’re once again on display.
After discovering New Norcia’s rich history, I went to the New Norcia Hotel and ordered some spaghetti lunch. Not only was the food was absolutely delicious, and quite reasonably priced, but it was served amazingly fast too!
If you’re ever in Perth, do make time to visit New Norcia, which is 1.5 hour’s drive along the Great Northern Highway. You won’t be disappointed!
Comments
4 responses to “New Norcia”
A fascinating history of New Norcia, really seems to be a place not to be missed by visitors to W.A.
For those of us unable to visit your lovely photo’s and text on your trip are an interesting read.
waw, thanks to brings my memory back about new norcia, adam. it’s definitely correct, you’ll not regret once take a drive to new norcia from perth. it’s like off-the-beaten-path for the tourists. pax 🙂
I was there 2 weeks ago. Still beautiful place “off the beaten track” although one of these “must see” in my books.
If one is interested go to my web page to see more
Great memories – I lived there for a year, some 45 years ago. I hope I get to visit again one day.