Soutenez l'Ancien Monastère de Sainte-Croix

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18,835€ Pledged out of 18,835€
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149 Donations from 8 countries
Finished
Pour que l'Ancien Monastère continue à accueillir, soutenez le projet de sauvegarde porté par les acteurs de ce cœur de Drôme.

History

The Old Monastery of Sainte-Croix is an exceptional heritage site. It is placed in a unique location, on a rocky spur at the entrance to the Quint valley, on the old Roman road that ran along the Drôme river. It is a link and passage between the Diois region – Die (pronounced Dee), capital of the local sparkling wine, Clairette, is 7 km away – and the Vercors, a protected nature reserve.

It was very probably founded by the Counts of Valence in the 11th century, just under their castle, the ruins of which, the Towers of Quint, still stand.

In the 13th century, the bishops of Die and Valence gave the Monastery to the congregation of St Anthony, who ran hospitals to care for those suffering from ergotism, a common medieval disease.  The monks made salves, various plasters and Saint Vinage (a wine-vinegar mixture used to treat ergotism) thanks to their knowledge of plant properties… More information on the history.

More recently, in 2011, the building being quite derelict and its financial prospects at a low ebb, an association “Friends of the Monastery” was founded to manage the site and develop its cultural and touristic potential. In March 2015, the association was converted into a Cooperative Society of Collective Interest, the New Monastery SCIC, a member of the National Network of Antonine Sites

Present use

In the 80s, the Old Monastery became an International Visitors Centre. Today, it is a place to meet or tune out, at the heart of the Biovallée.

We welcome groups in half-board or full-board accommodation, from a wide variety of backgrounds:

Artistic groups, walkers, schools of herbal studies, colleges, universities, family receptions, company seminars, training sessions of different types, including personal development…

Our guests are hosted in rooms reminiscent of their monastic origins (27 rooms with 53 beds), with quality meals prepared from local products. They can also make use of the beautiful activity rooms and the surrounding grounds: a park of 2 ha and two gardens, with collections of medicinal and aromatic plants and plants for dyeing.

The Old Monastery receives around 3000 visitors between March and November, for more than 6000 overnight stays. It proposes a high-quality cultural programme with some twenty shows and exhibitions: theatre, concerts, dance, puppet theatre…

The Project

The staff, composed of 8 people, the administrators, dedicated to their mission, local producers of Clairette, cheese, herb teas and meat, other associations, craftsmen, leisure service providers, faithful guests and clients, local councils and more than 50 supporters are engaged in an ambitious project of conservation and development, estimated to cost 1,2 million euros.

These people have come together around this project in the New Monastery SCIC, a Cooperative Society.


A real tool for local development, the project is based on four main pillars: heritage conservation, improvement of the accommodation and food offer, pursuit of the cultural programme and an opening for new economic activities.

The Society makes much of its values of participation, conviviality, cooperation and respect for the environment and engages in a “slow tourism” approach.

The Monastery is nine centuries-old lady who needs a total facelift: the buildings require attention, the roof structure is worn, there are leaks…

One major step of the project has been achieved: the renovation of the roof –timber work, covering and zinc work - thanks to a local company and a work programme with 68 volunteers between November 2016 and March 2017, involving an investment of € 240 000, covered by a loan and regional funding.

travaux toiture ancien monastere Sainte-Croix 

The inhabitants and local community in the Diois, Vercors, Drôme and Quint Valley, devoted to the site, have allowed it to stay open and active. But the requirements for saving this heritage site and maintaining its activity are considerable. We need you!

Urgency of the situation

The Old Monastery is at a delicate phase of the project. The building itself is sound but in order to open in spring 2018 and continue receiving guests (more than 1000 people have already reserved), we must have a disabled access, required by the State for buildings open to the public.

The first demand concerns the access to the building through the main entrance and into the courtyard. At the present time, the inner courtyard is covered in rough gravel, restricting easy movement.

A structural survey has also revealed that one of the walls is damaged by water seepage and that water leaks in the cellars. These cellars are remains from the 13th century; one of them has been transformed into a concert hall and we would like to rehabilitate the others as workshops and areas for craft activities.

Another problem is that when there is heavy rainfall, water floods the corridors on the ground floor, disrupting all activities.

Funding campaign

Pourquoi un financement participatif ?

Why participative funding?

The participative aspect is an essential part of our project. We value this approach when receiving our guests and in our collective development work.

There are many of you who wish to support us but do not always know how.

For these reasons, we have decided to start this giving campaign.

What will the money be used for?

The funds received will allow us to do the urgent work required in the inner courtyard of the Monastery this winter, decorate the place while rehabilitating its historical heritage and permit the reception of the thousand people who have reserved for 2018.

By giving, you will contribute to:

- ensuring a surface suitable for vehicles in the courtyard, to enable disabled and visually-impaired people to get around.

This is the first requirement of the State’s Disabled Access Agenda.






- managing rainwater and preventing leaks: stabilising and improving the buildings, collecting the rainwater by rehabilitating a derelict tank and using it to water the gardens.

- offering a beautiful and integrated layout, recalling the history of the Monastery by :

> the choice of paving with colours similar to the walls and appropriate pointing and visually recreating the cloister that must have existed in the courtyard.

> the rehabilitation of heritage items in the courtyard: restoring the pump used for the well and water tank, and incorporating the existing trees and bushes.

Funding plan

The work and layout are estimated to cost:

€ 70 000, provided from the following financial contributions:

For financing the courtyard: AURA Region, Self-funding, Donations, Heritage Conservation Society *

*Société de Sauvegarde des Monuments Anciens de la Drôme

Steps

First step : € 9060

Beginning of the project, terracing work starting in December 2017.

Second step: € 15210

Setting up of the drainage system (water tank) and recycling of water (pumping system linked to the well and watering of the gardens).

Third step: € 21 210

Paving in the inner courtyard: 9500 paving stones and central coating (35 tons of gravel from a local source – La Charce).

Goal achieved: € 24 900

THANK YOU!

The following work on the inner courtyard will be undertaken: water drained and recycled, disabled access path following the cloister layout.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

We can pursue our project now that you have put new heart into us.

If your donations exceed € 24900:

  • We will be able to fund our other structural and decorative projects
  • You will give us even more motivation to continue this adventure!
  • As a private individual, you can deduct 66 % of your donation, up to a limit of 20 % of your taxable income;
  • For businesses, your overall donation to the project allows a 60 % reduction of your corporate tax on the total sums donated, within a limit of 0,5% of the pre-tax turnover of your business.
  • By giving online on this page, after signing in and connecting on www.dartagnans.fr
  • By bank transfer from this page, after signing in and connecting on www.dartagnans.fr

Your donation

French donors

Your donation is tax-exempt in part, as it fulfills the general conditions specified in articles 200 and 238 bis of the Tax Code. At the end of the campaign, you will receive a receipt, entitling you to a tax reduction:

How can you support the project?

By sending a cheque (made out to Patrimoine-Environnement) with your email address to the following address:

Dartagnans
Campagne Monastère de Sainte-Croix
14 rue Crespin du Gast
75011 Paris France

Contact us

Ancien Monastère de Sainte-Croix, 26150 Sainte-Croix,
[email protected]
www.le-monastere.org
Facebook page
Notation Google+

They already support us

•The local councils of de Vachères-en-Quint, Saint-Julien-en-Quint et Sainte-Croix • Local producers of Clairette : Achard-Vincent, Thierry Marcel, Jaillance SA • Local producers of cheese, herb teas, meat, etc… • Partners: La Carline, Teintures Naturelles, Safrantours, La Pause Bien-être, Les Sorcières du Vercors, L’âme des simples, Barbier Electricité, Solaure Conseils, Association Départs • Regular clients : Whisper Cultural Center... and more than 50 supporters. See the list of our society members

In the press

On television: the Old Monastery project was the subject of a documentary in Des Racines et des Ailes on France 3 in March 2015.

You can also see the Mir Production video of “J’irai tourner chez vous” on the Old Monastery, a video on Biovallée and radio interviews on this page.

Thanks

We would like to thank all the volunteers who have been involved from the beginning of the adventure in 2011, and all our supporters who are also our loyal ambassadors.

Make our doors open in 2018 by giving!

Rewards

Pledge €15 or more
Or 5.1€ after tax deduction
5 donations
Merci!
Remerciements sur la page facebook de l'Ancien Monastère
+Une carte postale de l'Ancien Monastère avec les remerciements personnalisés
Pledge €20 or more
Or 6.8€ after tax deduction
31 donations
Parfum de la Drôme
Remerciements sur la page facebook de l’Ancien Monastère
+Une carte postale de l’Ancien Monastère avec les remerciements personnalisés
+Un savon à la lavande du Monastère
Pledge €50 or more
Or 17€ after tax deduction
43 donations
Découvrez l'histoire du lieu
Remerciements et carte postale
+Le livre sur l’histoire du lieu
(selon les stocks disponibles, à défaut un produit de remplacement sera proposé)
Pledge €100 or more
Or 34€ after tax deduction
30 donations
Invitation pour 2 visites du lieu
Remerciements et carte postale
+La visite guidée du lieu et de l’exposition sur l'histoire des Antonins pour 2 personnes
Pledge €150 or more
Or 51€ after tax deduction
18 donations
Assistez à un spectacle de la saison 2018
Remerciements et carte postale
+Une invitation pour 2 personnes à un spectacle de la saison culturelle 2018 (concert, théâtre...)
Pledge €200 or more
Or 68€ after tax deduction
10 donations
Dégustez la Clairette locale
Remerciements et carte postale
+Une invitation pour 2 personnes à un spectacle de la saison culturelle 2018 (concert, théâtre...)
+Dégustation de Clairette de Die pour 2 personnes
Pledge €500 or more
Or 170€ after tax deduction
4 donations
A la table du Monastère
Remerciements et carte postale
+Le livre sur l'histoire du lieu
+ Une invitation pour 2 personnes à un spectacle de la saison culturelle 2018 (concert, théâtre...)
+Une invitation pour 2 personnes à une soirée repas avec dégustation de Clairette
Pledge €1,000 or more
Or 340€ after tax deduction
4 donations
Séjournez au Monastère (Particuliers)
Remerciements et carte postale
+Deux nuits en pension complète pour une personne
+Visite patrimoniale et des coulisses du Monastère!
(Sur réservation, dans la limite des places disponibles)
Pledge €1,000 or more
Or 340€ after tax deduction
0 donation
Spécial entreprises et mécénat
Remerciements et carte postale
+Privatisation du lieu pour votre entreprise (conditions: à partir de 30 personnes, pour un séjour de minimum 2 nuits)
+Atelier cuisine autour des plantes
+Dégustation de Clairette et vins de Pays
avec un œnologue accompagnée de produits du terroir local
+Visite des coulisses du Monastère
Pledge €1,000 or more
Or 340€ after tax deduction
0 donation
Spécial associations/groupes d'amis
Remerciements et carte postale
+Remise de 10% sur un séjour de 2 nuits minimum à partir de 10 personnes. Dégustation de Clairette offerte à votre arrivée!
(Dans la limite des places disponibles)
Pledge without a reward
4 donations
 
Pledge an amount of your choosing