Christine Bolinne, communications officer for the diocese of Namur, explains in a press release: “It was in the aftermath of the French Revolution that, on behalf of the diocese of Namur, the administrative office of the seminary (BAS) bought the former Norbertian abbey of Floreffe and installed the Petit Séminaire de la province de Namur there, following the example of the one in Bastogne for the province of Luxembourg. While the seminarians left Floreffe and Bastogne in 1969, the BAS continued to assume, with its efforts and its funds, the maintenance of the Floreffe site of which it remained the owner, while it ceded Bastogne. “
Collapsing walls, blocked accesses
Over time, two emphyteusis were concluded: the mill-brewery with the association of former students of Floreffe and the Seminary of Floreffe for the school part. For the rest of this vast property of stones and wood, the BAS had to “still carry the heavy burden of management” of this heritage: the abbey church, the Tuscan gallery, the Nangot gate, the towers and the retaining and surrounding walls. With risks and dangers: the church is in poor condition, the Nangot gate which leads towards the woods has long been condemned and, just three years ago, an old wall of the abbey along the descending part of the rue de Robersart collapsed, threatening a house and condemning car traffic in this street one-way since. Without forgetting the scaffolding securing one of the surrounding walls which runs along Rue du Séminaire and Place Soviret, in the center of Floreffe.
Even if work has been carried out over the years, it proved insufficient in the eyes of a number of worried observers, particularly on the occasion of the 900th anniversary of the building, in 2021. “In the 2000s, as project owner, the BAS initiated, monitored, financed for the non-subsidized part, and completed the restoration of the roof and bell tower of the abbey church, in two long phases of work. Other urgent works are still loomingexplains Christine Bolinne. As a public law establishment, the mission of the BAS is not patrimonial: its sole purpose is the training of future priests and pastoral actors of the diocese of Namur. The high costs of maintaining Floreffe Abbey endanger this mission.“
This is why, for decades, the BAS has taken several steps to relieve itself of this magnificent but cumbersome property, with local stakeholders (school, mill-brewery, municipality, associations, regional authorities), in order to perpetuate the future of the abbey. These efforts were unsuccessful and, in August 2016, the property was put up for sale, even for a symbolic €1.
Brewery mill and schools still quiet for 40 years
Even if the sale is finalized, there is no need to worry about the school and the sale of drinks and abbey cheese sandwiches, the emphyteusis will remain valid until 2063. Christine Bolinne and the diocese further specify that “The new owners, competent Namurois and heritage lovers, will be able to implement their proven and universally recognized experience in quality heritage. Enough to open up happy prospects for the preservation, revitalization and influence of the Floreffe Abbey.“
