New Norcia, Western Australia
Visiting the Benedictine monastic town near Perth, WA
Founded by Benedictine monk Dom Rosendo Salvado in 1846, this community is a taste of Spanish style and architecture, with a great museum and art gallery.
A short drive away from Perth, New Norcia, Western Australia is one of the strangest towns in Australia. New Norcia was founded by an order of Benedictine monks as a place for them to go about their monkly business without distractions from the outside world. There’s no-where else in Australia quite like it, and it’s the perfect spot to visit if you are after a little bit of peace and quiet away from the bustle and noise of the city.
Whilst monks may not be considered the coolest people in the world – after all, their fashion sense is truly abominable, and those haircuts will never catch on – but on the whole, they are good chaps. After all, think of all those Belgian types who give us all that fantastic beer? How can it be said that they are anything less than utter legends?
However, they tend to have a bit of a different outlook on life, and this can be seen at New Norcia, a small town an hour and a half north of Perth. The place is a bit of an oddity, and has a vibe like no other place in the state. Or the country for that matter.
The settlement was founded way back in 1846 by Dom Rosendo Salvado, a Spanish Benedictine monk, and ever since then, it has continued functioning as a quiet monastic community completely detached from the rest of the world.
Things have changed a little bit since then – 150 years after New Norcia was founded, it opened its doors to the public, and since then it has become a bit of an offbeat tourist attraction.
There are still 18 monks, and evidently no hairdressers, living there, and the architecture is from a bygone era. It has a strong Spanish influence, and there are 27 buildings with a National Trust listing.
Amongst them are a museum and art gallery which are by no means world beating, but well worth a look for some fairly unusual artistic and religious artifacts. You can also do a self-guided walking tour which will give you an insight into the history of this strange ole town.
A nod to modern ways is obvious though – there is a local boozer, which given that half of the populace has sworn off alcohol, is obviously aimed at the tourists blundering through. There’s an ATM and takeaways, although, somehow, you can’t quite picture the monks deciding whether to have a Hawaiian or Tony Pepperoni at Dominos.
