Ne w No r c i a , WA
New Norcia is 130km
north-east of Perth via the
Great Northern Highway.
This unique settlement, Australia’s only monastic town, is a
Benedictine religious community in the West Australian wheatbelt.22 Australian GeographicN
EW NORCIA IS A little piece of the Mediterranean in
the Australian bush. It has a monastery, church, hotel,
working farm, beehives, wells, schools and an art
gallery and museum. It has remained fundamentally
unchanged since it was founded by Spanish Benedictine
monks in the late 1840s. One historian has written enthusias-
tically about the settlement: “The quaint beauty of its setting,
the old-world model of its architecture, the number, the size,
the real magnificence of some of its buildings, excite wonder
and admiration. Nowhere else in Australia is there a place like
New Norcia, and he who is fortunate enough to spend even a
few hours within its hospitable walls will find interest quick-
ened to the liveliest appreciation.” It is easy to enjoy the
settlement’s atmosphere of peacefulness and tranquillity.A statue of
St Benedict
at the
New Norcia
MonasteryBruce Elder’s Aussie Towns
PHOTO CREDIT, LEFT: COURTESY BENEDICTINE COMMUNITY OF NEW NORCIA. TOP: ANDREW GREGORY (AG)Find the New Norcia Visitor
Centre, Museum, Art Gallery
and Gift Shop on the
Great Northern Highway or
call 08 9654 8056.
Open most days:
9.30am–4.30pm.
Visit newnorcia.wa.edu.auVisitor
informationNew Norcia
PerthWA
Stunning interior murals
in St Gertrude’s CollegeWhen Benedictine monks
established a mission on the
banks of the Moore River, WA,
they named it New Norcia
after Norcia in Italy,
the birthplace of the order’s
founder, St Benedict.Origin
of the name5NEW NORCIA
Moore RiverRIVERWALK
HotelAbbey
ChurchSt Ildephonsus’
CollegeNew Norcia
MonasterySt Gertrude’s CollegeSalvado Statue2Visitor Centre,
Museum,
Art Gallery346New Norcia RoadNew Norcia RoadApiary
and start of
River Walk