History of the former living quarters of P.J. Triest

Originally the house was a part of the Cistercian abbey of Terhagen, situated in the Molenaarsstraat. The Cistercian abbey Domus Gaudii – popularly called Terhagen – was actually founded in 1230 near Axel (Zeeuws Flanders). In the 16th century the Sisters finally settled in Ghent and built an abbey in the hamlet of Vogelenzang, in the Molenaarsstraat.

An old chronicle, on parchment and with a wooden cover, tells us about the history and achievements of the successive abbesses.

This enables us to reconstruct the entire history of the abbey buildings. The 27th abbess, Maria Ronsse, built "quarters for the ladies and made two cellars with a winding staircase between 1748 and 1778."

Shortly after the arrival of the Congregation at Ghent, P.J. Triest took up his residence on these grounds, in a building detached from the convent. It was a very modest house, where Triest only made the most necessary adaptations. His successor, Benedict De Decker, carried out some major adaptations immediately after his appointment in 1836. The fundamental plan of the small house has since then remained almost unchanged. Now it is part of St Vincent’s Institute for Nursing.