La Cassine en Ardenne© - Le Couvent des Cordeliers

The word Cassine comes from the Italian dialect Cassina which means a country house. In 1572, six years after their marriage, Louis de Gonzagues and Henriette de Clèves built one of the most beautiful Renaissance castles in France on this site. This castle will be fortified with an enclosure of 18,000 m2 bordered by vast ditches filled with water. A fortified site to face, isolated in the middle of nature, the neighbouring principality of Sedan, armed and Protestant.LE COUVENT DES CORDELIERsBetween unity and change, the Convent of the Cordeliers was built from 1579 to 1587. It was then held by 6 priests and 6 deacons who were granted 5 arpents of land, 32 arpents of wood and a muid of wheat. The convent was built "a cannon's volley" from the castle. During the revolution, the convent was secularized and became a farm. Its simple architecture and the (mendicant) order for which the convent was intended make it a place with an austere atmosphere. It has a cardinal orientation around a cloister of which some fragments of columns were found but the courtyard remains missing. The facades of the walls of the monks' dormitories still show traces of the arms of the Gonzagues, including the motto (Fides), the rose (flagship of the Gonzagues), the H of Henriette and the Lambda of Louis as well as the crossed branches: emblem of the Counts of Rethel.Today this piece of heritage is saved thanks to the association of La Cassine en Ardenne© and the Heritage Foundation. Program 2021 : The dates have been announced, we invite you to visit the official website of La Cassine en Ardenne© via this link to learn more! Do not hesitate to follow La Cassine en Ardenne© on its official Facebook page to be aware of all updates in real time.