Couvent de La Tourette
Located in the small rural town of Éveux, about 25 km northwest of Lyon (69) in an area classified as "Coteaux du Lyonnais" next to Beaujolais, the convent built by Le Corbusier welcomes you for a unique spiritual and cultural retreat!
Retreats organized by the community
History of La Tourette Convent, Le Corbusier's masterpiece
The Sainte-Marie de La Tourette Convent, built between 1953 and 1960 in Éveux, near Lyon, is Le Corbusier's last major work in France. It is a work of maturity whose strength, richness, and complexity are such that, in 1986, French architects chose it as the second most important contemporary work, after the Centre Pompidou by Piano and Rogers.
In the middle of the last century, the Dominicans of the Province of Lyon had their study center for the formation of young Dominicans in the Chambéry region. They decided to move closer to Lyon. In 1952, Brother A.M. Couturier proposed that Le Corbusier build this new convent designed to house about a hundred religious.
Why such a choice? Brother D. Belaud's response:
"For the beauty of the convent to be built, of course. But above all for the significance of this beauty. It was necessary to show that prayer and religious life are not tied to conventional forms and that harmony can be established between them and the most modern architecture."
The Dominican community at La Tourette Convent
The Sainte-Marie de La Tourette Convent is home to a Dominican community of about ten religious. Some brothers work on site, others work outside, but most alternate between the two. The day on site is structured around work time, exchange, and communal prayer.
The convent is a house of welcome, sharing, reflection, and prayer. Anyone who wishes can experience this exceptional place of modern architecture, about which its creator Le Corbusier said: "it cannot be spoken but must be lived from within."
The community receives various groups, whether professional or confessional, as well as individuals, for one or several days.
Religious offices and Masses are open to the faithful on weekdays and every Sunday.
What to expect during your stay
Living a time of spiritual retreat at La Tourette Convent
In addition to the traditional reasons that invite you to go on a spiritual retreat, which you can find here, the welcome at La Tourette Convent stands out for several reasons!
First, the convent offers you a study program "Les Rencontres de La Tourette" that takes place throughout the year. These are reflection weekends around central topics such as:
- "Composing our relationship to nature and images"
- "What hospitality for migrants?"
- "Meister Eckhart, a spiritual experience for today"
- "Belief and its unconscious: the knowledge of the other"
In parallel, several times a year, "Assises in the spirit of Zen" invite you on the path of meditation, during a weekend or a week, with Brother Bernard Durel.
Finally, presentations and walks in the woods also punctuate these stays. And very regularly, internationally renowned contemporary art exhibitions bring an artistic and cultural dimension, in harmony with the architectural features of the Convent.
To discover the Convent from the inside, guided tours are offered to groups and individuals by reservation!
Welcome at the Sainte-Marie de La Tourette Convent
The community offers its guests accommodation in one of its 50 individual cells.
Meals at 12:30 PM and 7:30 PM take place in the large refectory. The atmosphere and menus are family-style, and you will likely have the joy of meeting one of the 10 brothers of the community!
The oratory and the church are accessible to all.
The community also offers for rent work rooms from 18m2 to 85m2. These are the former classrooms of the brothers. They are equipped with video projectors and screens.
Other more spacious and rustic rooms are offered to groups. They are located in the convent farm, situated 300m away.
The park of several dozen hectares and the forest of the convent give the House an exceptional environmental dimension. Only the singing of birds comes to disturb the silence of the place!
Geography and activities
What to do and see around La Tourette Convent?
Hiking or mountain biking in the Monts du Lyonnais, walks in the Beaujolais of Pierres Dorées, wine tasting, local cheese producers, fruits and vegetables, wildlife park of Courzieu...
The heritage and activities are conducive to a true return to nature and are abundant around the convent!
In short, located in the small rural town of Éveux, about 25 km northwest of Lyon (69) in an area classified as "Coteaux du Lyonnais" next to Beaujolais, the convent built by Le Corbusier welcomes you for a unique spiritual and cultural retreat!
Practical information
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