This beautiful Benedictine monastery once belonged to tea planter Sir Thomas Lester Villiers. To recreate his English lifestyle, he developed some country-cottage gardens, which are still enchanting visitors today. Inside, you can see the living room and the library, which is filled from floor to ceiling with dusty tomes. If you like the monastery so much you want to stay, well, you can: there's a small guesthouse. No photography is permitted inside the building.
Today, Adisham is one of only 18 monasteries in the world belonging to the Sylvestrine Congregation, a suborder of the Benedictine fraternity founded in the 13th century.
There’s a small shop selling produce from the monastery’s lovely gardens and orchards. Buy some wild-guava jelly or soursop cordial to pep up your next guesthouse meal.
The monastery is about 3km west of Haputale. Follow Temple Rd along the ridge until you reach the sign at the Adisham turn-off. A three-wheeler should cost Rs 600 return, including waiting time.
