In the early Middle Ages, many monasteries were built all over Europe. A group of holy men lived and worked and prayed there. Monks belonged to different "orders" which had different rules. The biggest number of monasteries were homes to the monks of the Benedictine Order. Their monasteries were generally in towns and they often built very big churches called "Abbeys" for the monks and the townspeople to worship in. Other orders of monks, like the Cistercians, did not live near towns. Nowadays their abbeys are seen as beautiful ruins in the English countryside.