Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Chartreuse Notre-Dame-des-Prés, founded in 1325 by Robert III or Robert VI, Count of Boulogne, is a monastery dedicated to the Order of the Chartreux. Located in Neuville-sous-Montreuil (Pas-de-Calais), it suffered destruction during the wars of Religion (XVI century) and the French Revolution (1790), where its property was nationalized. After partial reconstruction in 1872-1875 by architect Clovis Normand, it was closed in 1901 by the Waldeck-Rousseau law, leading to exile of monks in England.

In the 20th century, the site became a hospice, a sanatorium, then a Belgian civilian hospital during the First World War (1915-1919), hosting 5,000 refugees and burying 599 victims in a necropolis today commemorated. In 1993, the Chartreuse was listed as a historic monument, and in 2016 it was awarded the Cultural Centre de rencontre label. Since 2017, a restoration project (42 million euros) aims to save this heritage, with a planned end in 2026.

The Chartreuse architecture, registered in 1993, includes 24 monastic enclosures, a church, a library, and buildings organized around a large cloister. The entrance tympanum illustrates its history: the Virgin with Child surrounded by Count Robert III (founder) and Dom Charles-Marie Saisson (rebuilder in 1870). The site, a mixed property (association and private), now hosts visits, conferences, and cultural projects, while preserving the memory of Belgian civilians buried on site.

Among the notable figures, Benedict-Joseph Labre, a future saint, was refused in 1767 before his canonization in 1881. Victor Morel, MP-maire, turned the place into a hospice at the beginning of the 20th century, while the current association, led since 2024 by Alain Denizot, piloted its restoration. The cemetery of the needy (1950-1995) and the Belgian necropolis, rediscovered in 2014, recall its humanitarian and memorial role.

The Chartreuse also houses an intangible heritage: a monastic printing factory active in the 19th century, whose equipment was transferred to Belgium after 1901. The Chartreux carry their library, still kept at the Chartreuse de Parkminster (England). Today, the site combines historical preservation (merula, structures, restored stones) and contemporary projects, like a future hotel, subject to the total acquisition by the association.

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