Near Médéa in Algeria, the Notre-Dame d'Atlas monastery in Tibhirine was a place of peace and recollection. Founded in 1938, it was a vast farm of twelve hectares where the Cistercian monks lived by working the land and prayed while respecting their vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. They got along very well with the Muslims in the area and did not seek to convert them. On the contrary, they were working towards reconciliation with Islam.