Memories of abbot Emo's Journey (Herinneringen aan abt Emo's reis)

About this artwork.

Thirty memorial stones at the church of Wittewierum show the names of the cities that abbot Emo visited during his pilgrimage to Rome in 1211.
The modest church of Wittewierum, built in 1863, does not suggest that one of the largest monasteries in Groningen once stood here. The foundation of this so-called Bloemhof monastery is largely due to the willpower of abbot Emo. In the late autumn of 1211, this abbot left for Rome on foot to personally submit a conflict he had with the bishop of Münster to Pope Innocent III. 253 days later he returned home after a journey of 5000 kilometers, with the Pope right by his side. In this way he established the right to exist of the Bloemhof monastery. In November 2011 it was exactly eight hundred years ago that abbot Emo started his pilgrimage to Rome.

To commemorate this, Studio 212 Fahrenheit made the thirty memorial stones forming a footpath near the church. In addition, Studio 212 Fahrenheit provided a picnic table and (inside the church) an information column, which also told stories about the journey of abbot Emo.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Studio 212 Fahrenheit

• District
  Ten Boer en omgeving

• Year of creation
  2012

• Art type
  Art in the road surface, floor or ground, Monument

• Material
  Natural stone