The Abbé Pierre-Emmaüs center

In 1956, Emmaus' companions from the very first community founded by l’Abbé Pierre in the Paris region decided to create a travelling community in Normandy. Their goal was to relive the state of mind of the early days of Emmaus, which had begun seven years earlier. The itinerant community did not have permanent buildings. They moved to a locality for a few weeks and, with the help of the population, collected second-hand objects and raw materials in the area.

After eight years of travelling the region, Emmaus received a manor house in Esteville, which Georges Lanfry had just inherited. Mr. Lanfry is well known in the region: a resistant and building contractor for historical monuments, he is also the president of the friends of Emmaus in Rouen. Thanks to him, l’Abbé Pierre moved to Esteville in 1964 with companions who renovated the buildings. There he established his secretariat for the liaison of the Emmaus groups in the world and a library for the training of militants. In addition, the premises were enlarged and developed to accommodate people living in poverty who wished to stay in the countryside for some time.

In 1973, a retirement home was created for elderly companions from the various communities of France. In 1999, the house became a shelter for people of the Paris region seeking to break from a situation of urban wandering.

L’Abbé Pierre lived in a small apartment on the first floor. The "Halte d'Esteville", as it was called at the time, was his residence (in addition to his home in the Paris region) in the countryside, where he often came to work and rest. In the 1980s, l’Abbé Pierre came less often because he lived in the hotel of Saint-Wandrille monastery. In the 1990s, he returned to the Esteville house, which became his main residence, where he lived permanently.

L’Abbé Pierre died in 2007 in Paris. In accordance with his will, he was buried in the village churchyard. In 2012, after months of consultation, research and work, the Centre abbé Pierre-Emmaus was inaugurated. The ambition was to have the example, message and work of l’Abbé Pierre known to all audiences. It is above all a place of remembrance: a permanent exhibition space (museum) whose scenography presents l’Abbé Pierre in a modern way, as well as the Emmaus International Movement. The museum journey tells the life of a man of an exceptional destiny: a monk, a resistance fighter, a MP, a peace activist, a house builder, the creator of Emmaus...

In Esteville, visitors discover his room, as well as his chapel in the state where he left them. The Abbé-Emmaus Centre houses Emmaus' companions, deploys an event programme throughout the year, welcomes schoolchildren and develops an activity to recover and resell used cultural products.