Europe's Monastery and Convent Guesthouses (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Serving as the single largest resource ever compiled about Europe’s monastery and convent guesthouses, this extraordinary guidebook features more than four hundred and fifty places of spiritual retreat in twenty countries. It is an excellent resource for travelers, pilgrims, summer vacationers, students, armchair travelers, Catholic history or trivia buffs, or anyone else interested in monasteries. This handbook provides a key to discovering some of Christianity’s most ancient and beloved sites. In these pages you will find all the famous monasteries and abbeys, including those found at Subiaco, Cîteaux, Soligny-la-Trappe, Chartreuse, Monte Cassino, Aylesford, Santo Domingo de Silos, Mt. Athos, and Solesmes.

Inside, you’ll find the following invaluable information:

* A thorough history of Christian monasticism
* Complete stories of the major monastic orders
* A chronicle of Gregorian Chant
* Contact information for more than 450 monasteries, convents, & places of retreat
* Brief descriptions of each holy place
* Dozens of photographs
* Comprehensive listing of monastic-related websites
* Indispensable Internet travel resources

You’ll also find many interesting tidbits and fascinating pieces of information from the author, an experienced traveler who has backpacked through eighteen European countries visiting many of the major shrines, sanctuaries, monasteries, convents, and other places of retreat.

From the Author

Kevin J. Wright is one of the world's most recognized religious travel authorities and Founder/President of the World Religious Travel Association. As the leading global network for the faith tourism industry, WRTA exists to shape, enrich, and expand the $18 billion and 300 million traveler religious tourism and hospitality market. Wright is also founder of the World Religious Travel Expo & Educational Conference, the largest gathering of faith tourism professionals, travel providers, destinations, and group planners. An award-winning author of four faith-based travel guidebooks, Wright recently debuted his newest book The Christian Traveler Planner, which serves as the most comprehensive guidebook ever written on faith vacation opportunities. In his near fifteen-year career, he has traveled to almost 30 countries, visited more than 300 major places of pilgrimage, embarked on faith-based cruise charters, escorted group tours, and writes for national publications. Wright has been interviewed by CBS The Early Show, TIME Magazine, USA TODAY, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Geographic, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes Traveler, London Times, and dozens of other media around the world. In 2004, Wright launched the very successful and high profile Religious Travel Division at Globus, one of the world's largest escorted travel companies. Today, he also serves as President of the Religious Marketing Consulting Group, a team of independent professionals who assist companies in marketing, selling, and developing products and services for the global religious market. Wright has spoken at major tourism events throughout North America and around the world including The New York Times Travel Show, Jordan Travel Mart, U.S.-Africa Tourism & Sports Seminar, and The Caribbean Media Exchange.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 241 pages
• Publisher: Liguori Publications; Revised edition (August 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764806599
• ISBN-13: 978-0764806599
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #471,017 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good travel book (with a few exceptions), June 11, 2002

By	Tad Logan (usa) - See all my reviews

I found Mr. Wright's book to be a good travel and resource book, with a few exceptions. Here were the positive's and negatives:

Positive
1) great background info on monasteries
2) lots of contact info on monasteries
3) good website resources listed at back of book
4) nice layout
5) both practical and spiritual

Negative
1) no maps
2) not enough in-depth info about each monastery

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous resource for pilgrims!, February 15, 2001

By	Tim Drake "Author and Journalist" (Saint Joseph, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Six years ago I stayed at a remarkable convent guesthouse in Assisi. The food was spectacular, the environment was relaxing, and the hospitality was top-notch. I'll never forget one of the nuns giving us some bus tokens as we departed Assisi early one morning. They were to catch the bus to the train depot. It was one of the single kindest acts anyone showed to us during our trip.

Author, and consummate traveler Kevin Wright, knows well the special courtesies that such places offer the weary traveler. He has featured more than 450 such places in his recent guidebook.

I can think of no finer resource for the pilgrim traveler than this compilation of European monastery and convent guesthouses.

In addition to the information on the guesthouses it also provides a history of the major monastic orders, a history of Christian monasticism, information on Gregorian chant, many photographs, a listing of monastic-related web sites, and other Internet travel resources.

Wright combines his youthful enthusiasm, knowledge, travel experience, and sense of humor in this very useful guidebook. Not only will travelers enjoy it, but the armchair traveler, the student of Catholicism, and anyone else interested in monastic life.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars incomplete and erroneous, December 13, 2004

By	lector avidus (USA) - See all my reviews

I bought Kevin Wright's book before a trip to Europe. The idea behind the book is a winner; unfortunately the execution leaves much to be desired. (Largish) monasteries that do exist are not mentioned, Wright would have at least one monastery be in a town in which it most certainly has not been for the last 500 years; accuracy is not always Wright's strong point.

It's a huge shame that Wright didn't approach the right offices in Rome, as can easily be done done, and assemble a much more comprehensive and authoritative guide to Europe's monasteries and their guesthouses. Instead, he seems to have largely done his research on the web.

It may well be cheaper to buy this book than to do tons of web searches, but before doing so, you ought to be apprised of this book's limitations.