William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, Catholicism was renounced and the convent, with the entire Westerwolde area, became the property of the city of Groningen; the monastery was saved, unlike hundreds of others in the Netherlands, because the abbot converted to Protestantism. Storms, fire, and high maintenance costs caused major problems in the centuries after 1600. The monastery underwent many changes until 1930. The west facade was demolished sometime after 1755, and so were the upper floor with the brothers' cells (1834) and the dilapidated vaults in the church (1837). Unlike all the other monasteries in Groningen, a large part of the original buildings remained. Restoration Between 1930 and 1933, on the initiative of the city of Groningen, the remaining buildings were carefully preserved and restored, under the direction of city engineer De Vos Nederveen Cappel. On the ground floor, three of the original four wings were retained: the church for secular canons and lay people in the south wing; the chapter house and sacristy in the east wing; and the refectory (now a cafe), the vaulted supplies cellar, the sub-prior and prior's chambers, and the guest accommodations in the north wing. These wings are connected by an ambulatory, surrounding the cloister. The original medieval cloister garden has been replaced with a herb garden; the location of this garden is the only remaining detail in the Netherlands of such a medieval garden. Since 1992 Ter Apel Monastery is listed on UNESCO's Top 100 of immovable properties in the Netherlands. In 2000, the construction of a new west wing was begun, designed by Danish architect Johannes Exner; in September 2001 the work was completed. More renovations took place in 2007 and 2008, with a subsidy from the European Union. The newly renovated scriptorium features an exhibition of books and manuscripts. Also newly added was a workshop for stained glass. The monastery used to hold an annual chess tournament, the Klooster Internationaal Tournament, and continues to organize an annual medieval festival, which in 2010 attracted some 8000 visitors. In 2009, the monastery began publishing books; the first publication was a history of medieval Dutch monasteries, De Middeleeuwse kloostergeschiedenis van de Nederlanden. See also Crosier Monastery, Maastricht References Bibliography 500 jaar Klooster Ter Apel: van metten tot vespers. Van der Kamp, 1966. External links Klooster Ter Apel (official website) Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross 1465 establishments in Europe 1590s disestablishments