56 The Couvent des Dominicains The Couvent des Dominicains (Dominican Convent) of Guebwiller lies at the foot of the Vosges mountains. With its fourteenth-century Gothic architecture, it is one the key landmarks of Alsace’s heritage. Today it no longer has a religious vocation, but serves as a Heritage Site for Culture (Centre culturel de rencontre) devoted to music, digital arts and performance. Le Couvent has several concert spaces, including the 500-seat auditorium La Nef (Nave) which boasts outstanding acoustics, the Réfectoire d’Été (Summer refectory) which houses a cabaret known as ‘Au Sorgenfrei’ (Carefree), and a basement that doubles as jazz club and nightclub. Firmly anchored in its time, Le Couvent possesses an audiovisual creation laboratory that produces digital settings to enhance its programming each year. It has also developed a speciality that is unique on an international scale: geodesic dome creation. From metal to classical, world music to jazz, folk music to electro, the year-round programmes cultivate an urge for diversity and promote an open-minded attitude, freedom of expression and respect for all. Le Couvent is owned by the Collectivité Européenne d'Alsace.
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