Couvent des Récollets (Paris)
The Couvent des Récollets in the 10th arrondissement of Paris is a former recollect monastery that was built at the beginning of the 17th century. From the middle of the 19th century, it served as a military hospital for a hundred years . Today the former monastery houses La Maison de l'architecture (House of Architecture). In addition to the offices of the Île de France Chamber of Architects , it houses the Center international d'accueil et d'échange des Récollets , an international meeting center with apartments for researchers and artists. The building is located at the corner of Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin at 148 and Rue des Récollets at 8, opposite the Eastern Railway Station . The nearest metro station is Gare de l'Est on lines 4 , 5 and 7 .
In 1974 the building was included in the list of French architectural monuments as Monument historique .
history
In 1603 the recollects ( the Minor Brothers of the strict observance of St. Francis ), a reform branch of the Franciscans , settled in Paris with the permission of Henry IV . Jacques Cottard's brothers and his wife received the land as a gift. A little later, the church dedicated to Notre-Dame-de-l'Annonciation (Our Lady of the Annunciation) was built. The monastery buildings were built from 1619. The friars were active as military chaplains and looked after the nearby Hôpital Saint-Louis . At the beginning of the 18th century the order consisted of over 200 monks and the monastery served as the residence of the Bishop of Bethlehem . It had an important library of 30,000 volumes, a cabinet of curiosities and numerous paintings, including 38 portraits of popes, saints and other personalities.
During the French Revolution , the monastery was closed and initially used as a meeting place and barracks, later as a poor house . After renovations by the architect Bernard Poyet , a hemp and cotton spinning mill was set up in the buildings . In 1802 the hospital for terminally ill men was moved from the Hôpital Laënnec (in the rue de Sèvres in the 7th arrondissement ) to the former recollect monastery. During this time, the chapel was reduced in size and the neoclassical entrance facade was built. In 1861 the monastery became a military hospital, initially under the name of Saint-Martin , until it was renamed in 1913 after the doctor Jean-Antoine Villemin. During this time the building was raised by one floor and the facade was stripped of its decoration. In 1968 the dilapidated building was abandoned and remained unused for a long time.
In 1973 two wings were demolished and part of the former gardens was converted into a public park, Square Villemin . The École d'architecture de Paris-Villemin then used the rooms for almost twenty years. An architecture competition for the restoration of the former monastery was announced as early as 1986/87. However, work did not begin until 1999, after the French state transferred the buildings to the city of Paris. They were carried out by the architectural office Reichen & Robert and ended in 2003.
architecture
The entrance to the chapel on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin has a neoclassical portal with a portico consisting of two columns on which a triangular gable rests.
The original entrance to the monastery was on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin. In 1849 it was moved to rue des Récollets. There is still the portal of the later military hospital with the inscription HOPITAL MILITAIRE VILLEMIN , which is framed by fluted columns.
22 arcades are still preserved from the former cloister . The facade facing the garden extends for almost 100 meters and dates from the 18th century. It is divided into 26 axes and broken up by large arched windows on the ground floor. This part of the building, which is divided into three floors, housed the dormitories, reception rooms and the library. The only slightly protruding central projection is crowned with a triangular gable, in the middle of which there is a clock. The three arched windows on the upper floor are adorned with rocaille cartouches , the middle window on the ground floor has carved consoles and a clasp .
Inside, a staircase with a wrought iron railing from the early 18th century and a wooden staircase with turned oak balusters have been preserved .
literature
- Jean Colson, Marie-Christine Lauroa (ed.): Dictionnaire des Monuments de Paris . Éditions Hervas, Paris 2003 (1st edition 1992), ISBN 2-84334-001-2 , p. 287.
- Laure Beaumont-Mallet: Vie et histoire du Xe arrondissement . Éditions Hervas, Paris 1991 (1st edition 1988), ISBN 2-903118-35-3 , p. 16.
Web links
- Ancien couvent des Récollets ou ancien hôpital Villemin in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- Ordre des Architectes d'Île-de-France Chamber of Architects of the Ile-de-France
Coordinates: 48 ° 52 ′ 31 ″ N , 2 ° 21 ′ 36 ″ E