Vaerne Monastery, Rygge, Moss, Norway – What did The Knights Hospitaller hide underground?

Photo. A stone monument with the Hospitallers of St. John's coat of arms. © Travel Explorations.

It`s in Vaerne monastery that the main character in the novel Circle's End, called "the Norwegian Da Vinci Code”, finds a 2 000-year-old golden shrine.

It was a dark and rainy afternoon on 1st April 2010. Out in the beautiful Rygge country landscape we stopped by a big farm. According to my friend Ole, he was convinced about that the ruins were on this site, but we couldn`t see them from the road. Since it had been found interesting things here recently, we were keen to explore the site. Now a days it`s a conservation working going on there to preserve the old ruines.

To detect traces of the old The Knights Hospitaller monastery (Johanitterklosteret in Norwegian), the Vaerne Cultural Heritage has been investigated on the ground near the ruins of Vaernes monastery. The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) and The Swedish National Heritage Board walked around the garden in November 2009 with ground penetrating radar, which works like a sonar, and sends signals into the ground looking for the remains of ruins and buildings. And for the first time this gave very exciting results (based on information from the local newspaper Moss Avis: www.Moss-avis.no).

Coming more soon!

Stein Morten Lund, 2 April 2010

Additional information
For more information about the Vaerne Monestary and other historical sites i Øtfold county, Ostfold county:

The Ostfold Museum, Østfold Museum Foundation is the collective umbrella for Borgarsyssel Museum, Folkenborg Museum, The Canal Museum at Ørje, Hvaler Coastal Museum, Moss Town and Industry Museum, Østfold County Photographic Archive and The Museum Service.

Contact information for Museum Service:
Address: Gamlebygaten 10, 1721 Sarpsborg
Phone: + 47 69 11 56 50
E-mail: Museumstjenesten@ostfoldmuseet.no
Website: www.ostfoldmuseet.no

The Museum Service has been established as a communal resource for the museums in Østfold, offering consultancy in curatorship and other skills and, so long as capacity allows, advice and guidance to others interested in cultural history.