Couvent_des_R%C3%A9collets,_vue_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale_01

The Couvent des Récollets de Paris is a former

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

friary in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. It has been a listed '' monument historique'' since 1974.

History

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...

granted the

Récollets The Recollects (french: Récollets) were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects took vows of poverty and devoted their lives to prayer, penance, and spirit ...

permission to build a friary on land two paces from the church of Saint-Laurent which had been given them by his tapestry maker Jacques Cottard. They initially built a small church and the foundation stone of the friary; a larger church was established by

Marie de Medici Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

on 30 August 1614. The friary closed in 1790 and the building was turned into a military hospital for incurables in 1802. In 1861 the incurable cases were moved to the Hospice des Incurables d'Ivry and the former friary became the Saint-Martin military hospital, before being renamed after the military doctor

Jean-Antoine Villemin Jean-Antoine Villemin (January 28, 1827 – October 6, 1892) was a French physician born in Prey, Vosges. In 1865 he demonstrated that tuberculosis was an infectious disease. Biography Villemin was born in the department of Vosges, and studie ...

in 1913. Near the Gare du Nord and the

Gare de l'Est The Gare de l'Est (; English: "Station of the East" or "East station"), officially Paris-Est, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Gar ...

, it was heavily used during both world wars and was still in use during the Algerian War. It finally closed as a hospital in 1968 and was long threatened with demolition before being made a historic monument in 1974. It now houses Lerichemont, part of

RIVP The Régie Immobilière de la Ville de Paris (also known as the RIVP) is a public housing agency created in 1923 for the construction of low cost and affordable housing in Paris, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), ...

Sources (in French)

External links

Website of the Récollets, Paris

, ''Dictionnaire historique des rues de Paris''. Paris, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1972, 1985, 1991, 1997, etc. (1st ed. 1960), 1 476 p., 2 vols (, OCLC 466966117 *Jules de Gaulle, ''Nouvelle histoire de Paris et de ses environs'', Paris, P. M. Pourrat frères, 1839–1841, 630 p. 1614 establishments in France Former Christian monasteries in France Military hospitals in France Franciscan monasteries in France Buildings and structures in the 10th arrondissement of Paris {{France-Christian-monastery-stub

History

Sources (in French)

External links

Further reading