Foyer de la Charite - Spa

The Foyer de Charité de Spa-Nivezé was inaugurated on October 3, 1957.

This is the first foundation abroad of one of the first New Catholic Christian communities of the 20th century. It originated in the south of France, in Châteauneuf-de-Galaure, in 1936, at the initiative of a local resident, Marthe ROBIN. This welcoming institution, in the aftermath of evangelization, has as its mission to organize retreats and meetings of a spiritual nature in an atmosphere of tranquility and retreat.

The very beautiful local stone chapel which can be seen from the entrance of the property was inaugurated in 1998 and is open to the public. It is the work of architect Jean-Claude BODEUX from Louvain-la-Neuve. The choir is symbolically oriented to the east and the very bare walls of the chapel are decorated with a series of stained glass windows of various sizes thanks to the talent of a very young French artist, Serge NOUAILHAT. The furniture is also very sober and completes the whole perfectly. At the back are large, modern, light-colored organs.
The former chapel has been preserved and is accessible to retreatants . Very simply, it is located on the first floor of the castle , in a particularly bright environment where the many antique wall decorations of this beautiful building are visible.
When the institution opened in 1957, a chapel was still set up on the ground floor, but it was removed.

Willem Vandenameele