Oignies Priory

The priory of Oignies, often called the abbey of Oignies, was located in the Belgian hamlet of Oignies, on the banks of the Sambre, in the current town of Aiseau-Presles, near Charleroi.
Originally, four brothers and their widowed mother settled near an old chapel. As they lived religiously and had adopted the rule of Saint Augustine, their priory was officially recognized, in 1192, by the order of canons regular of Saint Augustine, the mother leading a community of beguines in the vicinity of the priory. .
Between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, the priory experienced several fires and the destructive fury of passing troops during the wars which ravaged the southern Netherlands. Popular devotion attracted many pilgrims, visiting Oignies to venerate the relics of the Beguine Saint Marie d´Oignies. The monastery was at its peak in the seventeenth century, which allowed the reconstruction of some buildings in neoclassical style.
The monastery was suppressed in 1796, in the years following the French Revolution, the canons expelled and the lands of the priory parceled out and sold as public property. In 1836, the new owner demolished the cloister and the church, the site later becoming industrial buildings, workers' housing and then social housing.
In 1975, the site was listed as a Walloon heritage. In 1987, an association of Friends of the Oignies Abbey was created, with restoration of the site being planned.

Former priory of Oignies known for the goldsmith of the same name, all the treasures are at a museum in Namur

Impossible to discover, the site is closed