On Thursday, April 4, the Chartreuse de Neuville will be holding its annual meeting to explore how emblematic heritage sites can help revitalize their local areas. It’s a day not to be missed for anyone interested in inspiring initiatives to promote eco-territorial development.

The Franciscaines de Deauville, the Manufacture de Villefranche-de-Rouergue, the Chartreuse de Neuville… Three examples of remarkable sites, some of which date back to the 13th century. If the stones could speak, they would evoke their thousand and one respective lives. In turn convent, monastery, orphanage, dispensary, school, hospital, medieval palace, factory…, this trio of proud sentinels have today rediscovered a flamboyantly modern vocation. They have become media libraries, toy and game libraries, cultural centers, exhibition and exchange centers, where multiple worlds meet and mingle. Within their walls, knowledge, art, discovery and escape flourish.
La Chartreuse de Neuville, on the Côte d’Opale, is a resource center and a factory of experiments, combining innovation, experimentation, incubation and training… This 700-year-old lady keeps watch. She questions, expresses, accompanies and upsets. But she also bears the burden of time, and has been identified as an endangered French site by the Mission Patrimoine. Unfortunately, it’s not the only one. France abounds in architectural treasures and little-known sites where history has left its sumptuous mark.
This is why the event she is organizing on Thursday April 4, as part of her annual meetings, is so important, reflecting the role of inspirer-creator she embodies. A whole day devoted to exchanges, round tables, testimonials and workshops on the theme of “Heritage sites, beacons in their territories?
Or why not follow the example of the successful conversion of the three above-mentioned buildings, and see other emblematic buildings take up this challenge and in turn become vectors of mediation, appeal and interactivity, reducing the divide between the urban and rural spheres, reinvigorating territories and helping them regain their status as local “beating hearts”?
As an absolute fan of the Chartreuse de Neuville, I’ve become an active partner and assert my role as a self-proclaimed “ambassador” proud of my region and its exceptional heritage. I’ll be there on Thursday April 4, and I encourage you to come and join me. For more information, click here.