Since 2002, IESA arts&culture has been associated with the Vieilles Maisons Françaises association to reward the cultural animation of a heritage site.
The Vieilles Maisons Françaises (VMF) Prize is awarded each year to buildings that are not protected as Historic Monuments but are of major interest for History and Art History. The award is granted by a commission made up of professionals.
The Abbaye Royale de La Réau
The prize is awarded by a jury made up of representatives of the Fondation Vieilles Maisons Françaises and IESA arts&culture. This year they awarded the prize to Marie-Christine Domange-Lefebvre for the Abbaye Royale de La Réau located between Poitiers and Angoulême.
She is offered by IESA arts&culture a 4-month training course, a tourism development study and a check worth €2,300 to improve public reception. By offering a tourism development study carried out by students of the Master’s in Heritage and Cultural Tourism and a year of training in Cultural Mediation and Production, IESA arts&culture works for the enhancement of French heritage and its transmission.
Marie-Christine Domange-Lefebvre, development director of the Abbaye Royale de La Réau, who was the winner of the VMF – IESA Prize in 2022, on the prize:
Can you tell me in a few lines what this prize means to you?
"The VMF-IESA arts&culture prize awarded to the Abbaye Royale de la Réau (86) is the first prize received since the site was purchased in 2019; above all, it is a real encouragement to restore this exceptional heritage threatened with ruin, and we are very grateful for it.
The tourism development study will allow us to rethink our positioning among the players in the cultural and heritage development of the Sud Vienne Poitou.
Our energy and resources have so far been mainly focused on the restoration of the buildings (cover - roofing); there is no doubt that the training course complementing the tourism development study is an asset for becoming more professional and making La Réau, a Romanesque abbey listed as a Historic Monument, an unmissable tourist destination, while preserving its soul."
