Đan Viện Thánh Mẫu Châu Sơn, Ninh Bình

Visitor opening hours:

• Monday – Saturday: Morning: 8:00 - 10:30; Afternoon: 14:30 – 16:30.
• Sunday: Morning: 8:00 - 10:00; Afternoon: 15:30 - 16:30.

Đan viện Thánh Mẫu Châu Sơn is a Cistercian monastery where priests go on retreat. It is also known as Đan viện Châu Sơn, Nhà thờ Châu Sơn, or Nhà thờ Gạch. Little is known about the monastery because of its remote location and because it has only recently become accessible to pilgrims. However, it has a mysterious beauty and an immense interior.

The monastery is surrounded by fortified walls, stone paths, and a difficult, deserted road, yet its beauty continues to draw visitors. Đan viện Thánh Mẫu Châu Sơn was built in Phú Sơn Commune, Nho Quan District, Ninh Bình Province.

Father Anselmo Lê Hữu Từ founded the monastery in 1936. Bishop Gioan Baotixita Nguyễn Bá Tòng first asked the superior of Đan viện Sitô Phước Sơn in Quảng Trị Province to send a group of monks north to establish a religious order in the Phát Diệm Diocese. The first stone for the church and monastery grounds was laid on September 19, 1939, and the church was inaugurated on November 4, 1945.