Rievaulx Abbey & Byland Abbey followed by Konak Meze Take-out

It was about a month ago when we made a trip to Rievaulx Abbey. The abbey was situated in Ryedale, a remote valley in the North York Moors National Park, surrounded by farmer's lands and woods. There was a tiny village with some stone houses. I saw a cute thatched roof there!

Founded in 1132, Rievalux (ree-VOH) Abbey was the first monastery of the reforming Cistercian order in the north of England. It began with about 30 men (monks and lay bothers) from Clairvaux in Burgundy, France and at its peak in the 1160s became one of England's most powerful Cistercian monasteries,  housing over 600 men. The medieval abbey wasn't an exception of the Suppression of the Monasteries in 1538; many of the building were deliberately destroyed after then.

Through hundreds of years of being ruins, it must be a miracle that the eastern parts of the church still stand to almost their full height. 

It reminded me of Fountains Abbey. Both were magnificent. Perhaps Fountains Abbey was dynamic and larger than Rievalux while Rievalux had its own mysterious charm and beauty. Rievalux abbey could be my favorite so far. 

After the visit of Rievalux Abbey, we were going to see Helmsley Castle. However, the town of Helmsley was packed with people and cars and couldn't find a place to park. It was the day that a farmer's market was being held. Plus the weather was very nice. It was around a lunch time. We were planning to have lunch there before or after the visit of the castle. Sadly we decided to skip the castle as well as lunch and go home. 

On our way home, we stopped by at Byland Abbey. It was another 12th century Cistercian order in Britain although its history appears to have been quite complicating. Well, the abbey was large but pretty much ruined. Still it showed us many beautiful aspects. 

Honestly I don't remember what our lunch was on the day. We must have had something home... Well, what I remembered was I was lazy on the next day and we had our first take-out from our favorite Turkish restaurant, Konak Meze.

Their dishes were tasty as we remember.