Strata Florida Abbey

Strata Florida Abbey
Abaty Ystrad Fflur
Romanesque archway to the main nave at Strata Florida.
Strata Florid within Wales
Basic information
Location	Pontrhydfendigaid, Ceredigion, Wales.
Geographic coordinates	52°16′30″N 3°50′22″W / 52.275104°N 3.839376°W / 52.275104; -3.839376Coordinates: 52°16′30″N 3°50′22″W / 52.275104°N 3.839376°W / 52.275104; -3.839376
Affiliation	Catholicism Cistercians
Year consecrated	1201
Website	http://cadw.gov.wales/daysout/strata-florida-abbey/?lang=en
Architectural description
Architectural type	Monastery
Architectural style	Cistercian
Funded by	Rhys ap Gruffydd
Materials	Limestone

Strata Florida Abbey (Welsh: Abaty Ystrad Fflur) ( pronunciation ) is a former Cistercian abbey situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The abbey was founded in 1164. "Strata Florida" is a Latinisation of the Welsh Ystrad Fflur; "Valley of Flowers". The Welsh word ystrad is synonymous with "strath" and "dale", while fflur ("flower") is also the name of the nearby river. After the region around St Davids was firmly occupied by the Norman Marcher lordship of Pembroke by the early 12th century, with St Davids firmly under Norman influence thereafter, the princely Dinefwr family of Deheubarth transferred their patronage to Strata Florida, and interred many of their family members there.

There is no known date for the founding of the monastery. In the 12th century, Cistercian monks from Whitland Abbey, Narbeth, Carmarthenshire started to construct a religious settlement on the banks of the Afon Fflur (from which the present Abbey takes its name), a short distance from the present site. This was at a time of fast expansion of the Cistercian order. The site of this first settlement is known as Hen Fynachlog (the Old Monastery).