« MAREDSOUS, HIER, AUJOURD’HUI, DEMAIN… »

A new permanent exhibition is freely accessible to the public from 2 July 2022, under the Esplanade Portico.

Through texts and numerous photographs, the exhibition evokes the history of Maredsous: the founding family, the Desclées, its abbots, but also its foundations, such as the abbey school, which became the Collège Saint-Benoît, the School of Arts and Crafts, and the abbeys and priories in Belgium and abroad of which Maredsous was the origin.

The exhibition revisits the vision of its architect’s architectural and artistic project, the neo-Gothic of Jean-Baptiste Bethune, some elements of which were in competition with the Beuron school of painting.

The prestigious buildings of the abbey are highlighted in their character as a place of life for the monastic community, its spirituality, its sense of liturgy and its work. The history of the prestigious abbey library is illustrated, as are the remarkable gold and textile collections covering 150 years of art history. Finally, Maredsous is placed in its actuality as a living abbey, open to the future.