Posjet samostanu La Tourette je uvijek iznova jedan od najsnažnijih i racionalno teško objašnjivih doživljaja. U toj okolini čovjeka obuzima dojam da je potpuno prenesen u neki drugi svijet. Samo Le Corbusierova arhitektura ima tu nepojmljivu sposobnost ujedinjavanja stvarnog i imaginarnog, nesvjesnog i svjesnog, trenutačnog i beskonačnog.
Većina arhitekata koji se zapute u La Tourette posjete i obližnji grad Firminy, nekada malo rudarsko naselje nedaleko Lyona, koje se danas može pohvaliti da je mjesto s najvećim brojem Le Corbusierovih zgrada u Europi. Lani je svečano otvorena još i crkva Saint-Pierre, koja je navodno upravo Le Corbusierovo djelo, iako je arhitekt umro već 1965. godine, dakle prije dobrih četrdeset godina.
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Every visit to the La Tourette Monastery is a most intense experience, difficult to explain rationally. In these surroundings, one gets the impression of total transcendence to another world. Only Le Corbusier’s architecture has this inconceivable ability to unite the real and imaginary, the unconscious and conscious, the ephemeral and eternal.
Most architects who go to La Tourette also visit the nearby town of Firminy, once a small mining settlement, not far from Lyon, which today boasts of being the town with the largest number of Le Corbusier’s buildings in Europe. The Church of Saint-Pierre was solemnly opened last year, and it is supposedly also Le Corbusier’s work, although the architect died in 1965 – a good forty years ago.
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