The former convent of the Penitents of Rouen is located in the historic center of the city.
Religious settled there in the early seventeenth century, Saint-Hilaire, after the foundation of the first convent in 1472 in Canteleu, then initially prevented by the authorities in 1522 to set up in Rouen they moved in the suburb of Bullfinch in 1610 with the approval of King Henry IV. Signed letters patent of Louis XIII finally give them the right to "citizenship" to Rouen 1612, may have access to the buildings and land of a certain Monsieur Bapeaumes. Once there, the Penitents are raising their monastery church dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto. It was consecrated in 1615. In the process, is set cloister (1625).
During the Revolution, the monastery was turned into a prison and then hosts religious until World War II (the Good Shepherd Sisters and the Sisters of the Holy Angels). After the war, a vocational high school is located on the site and after the rehabilitation works, the Regional Agency of Upper Normandy environment is sheltered from 1993 to 2011.
The convent of the Penitents, it now only two of the four wings of the cloister and stairs, giving Allée Daniel Lavallée, which are subject to protection as historical monuments.
The property is private but the cloister of the charming vestiges can be observed from the outside during a free guided tour or the center of Rouen. Information at +33 2 32 08 32 40.
