New Norcia, Western Australia: Where is Australia’s only monastic town?
New Norcia, Australia’s only monastic town, is in Western Australia. The 127km drive north from Perth to New Norcia takes around an hour and a half. The town feels like a slice of Spain in the Australian bush.
A 127km drive north of Perth is one of Australia’s most unique settlements. New Norcia is the country’s only monastic town (although hamlet would be a more accurate description). The small community of Benedictine monks owns everything, including the pub. They live the holy life in the middle of nowhere.
The fact that New Norcia exists at all is reasonably remarkable, but just wait until you get a look at the architecture.
It’s like a little slice of Spain in the Australian bush. The churches and the old missionary school buildings are stunning examples of Iberian-cum-Byzantine design. They’d take pride of place in any European city. 30 buildings in New Norcia are Heritage-listed. That’s over one third of the total.
The founding of New Norcia
The Spanish influence shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise once you know the back story. New Norcia was founded in 1846 by two Spanish monks. Dom Rosendo Salvado and Dom Joseph Serra were fleeing persecution in their homeland. They sought a populated area where the local Aboriginal population could become a part of the community, educated and ‘civilised’. Whether his aims were noble or misguided, it’s difficult to dispute Salvado’s extraordinary work. He learned seven Aboriginal languages, and his diaries are thought to be the most comprehensive record of Aboriginal history ever created. They are currently undergoing translation in Melbourne.
Salvado was succeeded by Dom Fulgentius Torres, who was as much architect as holy man. He was responsible for the design of the buildings. He also got three master artisans sent from Rome to decorate them. And they did a marvellous job – New Norcia’s buildings are even more surprisingly beautiful from the inside.
Food from New Norcia
The mission schools that provided most of the community’s income closed down in 1991. This left the dwindling number of monks in need of new revenue streams. Tourism has filled part of the gap, but the sale of New Norcia-branded produce keeps things ticking over. Some say the bread is the best in the state and the nutcake sells in Harrod’s. The wine and olives are not half bad either. Most New Norcia products are buyable online via the monastic community’s website.
New Norcia tours from Perth
If you want to visit New Norcia independently, it’s easy enough to drive there for a day out from Perth. The drive takes about 90 minutes. The Museum should be the first stop for getting information about the rest of this unique Western Australian town. It’s also possible to stay overnight in the New Norcia hostel.
For non-drivers, day tours are available from Perth. Adams Pinnacles Tours runs a full day outing that also takes in the Pinnacles desert near Cervantes and wildflower sites. The tour from Perth covers 500km in a day and costs $215.
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