The abbey of Orval is located at the edge of the woods of the Ardennes, in a beautiful valley of the former county of Chiny. The site has been inhabitated from time immemorial. The famous well of Orval must once have had a Gallo-Roman sanctuary, which was the origin from which the valley received its sacred character.

The abbey of Orval, in Belgium’s Ardennes Forest, is truly a place of mystery. The name “Orval” means “Valley of Gold”, Nostradamus seems to have written a number of his prophecies here, and it is possible that once there were no less than two treasures hidden: the Treasure of the Knights Templar and the War Chest of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette…