The remains of Valle Crucis Abbey stand in a lovely, green valley below the Horseshoe Pass. The name means `valley of the cross` and it was named after the nearby Eliseg`s Pillar. The abbey was founded in 1201 by the Cistercian order and it was one of the most prosperous abbeys in Wales. The shell of the abbey church is nearly complete and there is a beautiful chapter house above which is the monk`s dormitory. Behind the east front there is a monastic fish pond.