Winery at the Holy Cross Abbey

Driving back from the Royal Gorge (see previous posting), we went into Canon City, CO to visit the winery at the Holy Cross Abbey.

The Abbey.

It started when two Benedictine monks came from Pensylvania to Breckenridge, CO in 1886.

More followed as they moved from Brekenridge to Boulder to Pueblo and finally to Canon City, naming the foundation Holy Cross Abbey.

The Abbey was built in 1924 in the gothic style, where the monks ran a boarding school for high school students until 1985.

Monks still resided at the Abbey until 2006.

You can actually visit the monastery during the week and if I remember correctly, the sign at the front also listed mass hours for Sunday mornings.

The Winery.

The vines were started by the monks a few years before the church decided to close this monastery and move them out of state.

Very few wines are actually produced there now, though we did see several rows in front of the tasting room. I don't recall where the vines are currently grown -where's that handy tourist flyer when you need it- but they do have over a dozen wines including Chardonnay, Merlot, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah.

The tasting room is open Monday - Satruday, from 10 am - 6 pm, and Sundays from 12 - 5 pm. Most selections are free except for a few reserved collection, requiring a small fee.

Church

I love churches; the architecture, the stained glasses, the old wooden doors.

This is St. Matthew Episcopal Cathedral in Laramie, Wyoming. Unfortunately it was locked.

The Catholic church next to it, however, was open because of the caretaker cleaning and dusting. He was very nice in letting me visit and walk around, and even shared with me a bit of the history of some the stained glasses (newly restored) and paintings (oldest from 1860s). I don't have pictures of that one... it was rather ordinary looking on the outside, though the inside more than made up for it.

He explained that most churches nowdays are locked because of vandalism and theft. Someone took the chalice out of the Catholic church once, and it's been locked ever since. It's a shame really. Churches used to be open to all, providing shelter and refuge, or just a place to sit quietly. No more. Open for service -that's it.