The benefits of heritage | The magic of old walls

Do old stone walls, with their wooden beams and paned windows, bring well-being to the soul?

Researcher Simon Coulombe believes so.

For three years, with two colleagues, this professor from Laval University has sought to understand why those who stay at the healing center housed in the old walls of the Augustines monastery-hospital, in Quebec, derive an undeniable feeling of happiness.

Of course, he says, part of the experience is the hospitality of the staff, the yoga sessions and the reflection activities followed by the “guests,” as they are called at the monastery. But does the venerable religious building itself play a role in the peace and introspection felt by the vast majority of visitors? “This is something that contact with tangible and intangible heritage seems to encourage,” says Simon Coulombe, a pioneer with his colleagues on this subject around the world.

Material heritage, he explains, is old buildings and objects from the past. The intangible is the know-how passed down from generation to generation. Sometimes, like an old house, this culture of gesture and good manners disintegrates and disappears with the wear and tear of time.

At the Monastère des Augustines, we strive to preserve both.

In this emblematic building of Old Quebec, an organization continues the mission of this congregation which landed in America in 1639 with the same spirit of welcome and openness. It offers respite stays and support to caregivers, as well as caregivers in the health network.

They can stay there for a few hours, for a visit or a workshop, or several days to let go of the pressure of everyday life.

Balm for the soul

Nearly 350 of these “guests” agreed to participate in the research of Simon Coulombe and his colleagues. Their testimonies seem to confirm the repeated claims of heritage defenders: beyond a reminder of the past, the old walls have a real balm effect for the soul. They distill a call for calm and appeasement.

“From the moment I entered the monastery, a deep feeling of well-being came over me. The serenity that permeated the air allowed my mind, body, and soul to finally find peace. Staying at the monastery was not only a retreat from the outside world; it was a sanctuary where I could really relax and recharge my batteries,” said one participant.

How can we explain this phenomenon? Would entering into a relationship with a building that has stood the test of time place us in front of something greater than ourselves? “Clearly,” replies the researcher without hesitation.

“One of the fundamental needs of humans is to make sense of their existence,” he explains. You can achieve this in different ways, but it’s difficult to define yourself as a person if you don’t know where you come from, or where our society comes from. Heritage allows us to find our place in relation to what has happened in society, in life. This is all the more true when it affects our families, our ancestors. »

Sustainable health

Well-being and reflection also have their sources in the architectural qualities of a building, believes the researcher. In this spirit, the monastery inspires a desire to maintain in people the same spiritual, intellectual and physical strengths that could allow them, too, to pass through the trials of time.

This is what we call “sustainable health,” says the academic. “It’s increasingly at the heart of how we think about well-being. »

“The monastery has the physical qualities that are known to be good for general health,” he adds, listing the large windows, the gardens and the natural materials – wood and stone – specific to biophilic design.

Biophilia is interested in the psychological need of humans to want to surround themselves with shapes and materials reminiscent of living things.

It is in this vein that the architects responsible for the rehabilitation of the building have preserved 70% of the original materials, underlines Isabelle Houde, deputy general management of the monastery. They also espoused the architectural principles decreed by these nuns. The entrance hall, for example, was designed to encourage looking inward.

“Initially, the architects had drawn up plans to create a grandiose hall. But the Augustinians said: “No, that’s not how you enter a monastery. You have to feel that you are entering into yourself,” says M^me Houde.

Traces of the past have also been preserved and highlighted. Thus, a wooden staircase dating from 1757 has been preserved even if its steps, which are very solid, lean seriously to one side.

In this same spirit, an old stone floor has been preserved under a glass window. And on the third floor, we can see an English cannonball, dating from the siege of Quebec in 1759, still well embedded in a beam.

All of these details of heritage can foster a sense of indulgence and perseverance: allowing our imperfections and wounds to be part of our beauty. “We tell the story without just showing what is beautiful, because it is through more difficult things that the world is forged,” says M^me Houde.

Inspiring example

By partnering with this research, the Monastère des Augustines hopes not only to improve the experience of its guests, but also to inspire the heritage community to exploit the intrinsic potential of historic places to improve people’s well-being, indicates Madeleine Moreau, strategic advisor to the Monastery. “It’s a food for thought for other organizations that face the same challenges of conserving these heritage places and giving them meaning in the society we currently live in,” she concludes.

Visit the Augustines Monastery website