The Jesuits in Les Fontaines
In 1946, Henri de Rothschild sold the site to the Jesuits.
The Jesuits then created a scholasticate, a house where a large community of religious in the process of spiritual or intellectual formation lived. Before the construction of the scholasticate began, the Sisters of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem occupied a wing of the Château for three years to avoid the blow of a requisition if the premises remained uninhabited for too long. The scholasticate then functioned for almost 20 years.
As you can see on the pictures, the castle was then surrounded by 2 imposing buildings, on one side the library and on the other the lodgings. If you put your back to the Forum: the accommodations are on the left and the library on the right (the opposite on the picture). Opposite the lodgings, was the Chapel. The organ that accompanied the religious celebrations is now in the Sainte Geneviève church in Gouvieux.
In 1970, with the decline in vocations, the scholasticate was transferred to Paris and the Jesuits transformed the site into a Cultural and Spiritual Center. The place then welcomed many young people for the vacations and was open to the public. Moreover, inhabitants of Gouvieux and Chantilly came in great numbers to walk around or even to fish in the pond.
In 1998, the Society of Jesus could no longer maintain the place and put it up for sale. Its library, comprising more than 500,000 precious works, was transferred to Lyon. It was the second largest private library in Europe, the first being that of the Vatican. It contained, among other things, a 10-leaf notebook of one of the Bibles printed by Gutenberg between 1452 and 1454.
The Capgemini group acquired the domain. After meeting very strict specifications regarding respect for the site and its historical heritage, it set up its Campus there in 2003.
