As a child, I used to play in some of the most beautiful woods in North Macon behind a good friend's house. We spent many a day in the hardwood forest bordered by Forest Hill Road and The Prado. On one such day, my friend's father led us down a trail to an old abandoned monastery. I remember being fascinated by the whole thing - a trail which had stone platforms where, according to legend, statues of saints once stood, each pointing in the direction of the monastery in the woods. At that time, the only remaining statue was of St. Peter, standing on Satan's head. I've always wondered about the history of that place, and a few weeks ago I decided it was time to see if any of it was still there.A few days ago I ventured into the woods near the more well-known entrance to the trail, and followed it to the old structure. The forest was just as beautiful as I remembered it, and the structure was still easily accessible, though marked by vandals. I wasn't able to find the statue I remembered, but it brought back quite a few childhood memories just being in those woods. I took a few snapshots from the trail, which can be viewed in my Flickr gallery by clicking on the photo to the right.
As to the history of this place - there is very little documentation of its existence. Apparently, the land was once owned by the LaSociete Catholique Religious order during the late 1800's. Some say it was part of the Pio Nono College, established in 1874 and named after Pope Pius the Ninth, which became Saint Stanislaus College of the Jesuit Fathers in 1889 and burned down in 1921. It's been said that the jesuit monks would walk from the college, now Stanislaus Plaza neighborhood at the start of Pio Nono Avenue, to this grotto/shrine/monestary? to pray. I haven't really been able to confirm any of this, but I'll keep digging.
The land was acquired by Mr. Winship, who built a large estate which burned in the 1970's. An apartment complex now stands where the home was built, but parts of the old monastery still remain further into the woods. This is all I've been able to find out about this place, but it's really pretty fascinating, and definitely worth a visit (with permission of the property owners, obviously).
