CSS - Converting Sacred Spaces

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Monasteries played a crucial role in both the spiritual and economic development of NW Europe. But declining religious observance means that many of these historic sites have become abandoned during the past 100 years. The Converting Sacred Spaces project aims to find new functions for these sites and integrate them into the development plans of the cities and regions in which they are located. The key objective of the project, which involves 12 partners from five member states, is to save or improve important religious heritage sites by restoring or renewing them and providing new functions. The 9.3M euro project will also help preserve the former monasteries as oases of tranquility for contemplation, rest and relaxation. Part of the project, which is being led by 38 Belgium’s City of Louvain, will involve creating an interpretive path on each site to explain the importance that abbeys have played in history of land management. The project will also organise a transnational, travelling exhibition and a manual showing examples of innovative restoration developed during the project that will be distributed throughout the Cistercian Order’s network of 150 abbeys across Europe.

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