The Convent of the Récollets is located rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin, in the 10th arrondissement of the capital.
Appeared after a reform of the Franciscan order, the Récollets obtained in 1604 from King Henry IV permission to establish a monastery at Paris. Its construction begins ten years later, including a convent, long known for its library, and a church.
The monks were expelled from the site in 1790 and in 1802, the vast convent was chosen to house a hospice called "Incurables". In 1861, the buildings knew a new vocation, and the whole of the old convent becomes a military hospital which takes the name of Villemin, former doctor of the armies having notably worked much against the tuberculosis, in 1913. The establishment, located near the Gare de l'Est and the Gare du Nord, has sustained activity during the two world wars. Judged obsolete, it is closed in 1968.
A time threatened with destruction, the site was classified in 1974 for its buildings dating from the eighteenth century, elements such as its roofs and facades, or the chapel.
The former convent which was renovated in 2003 now houses a residence dedicated to artists and researchers, exhibition spaces, the offices of the Order of Architects of Ile-de-France, the House architecture and associative premises.
In addition to the elements already mentioned, visible partly from outside, we can also see the old door of the military hospital (rue des Récollets). As for the old garden of the monks, it was disjoined from the whole and it became the garden Villemin.
For a visit to the former Récollets convent, a fine example of religious architecture from the classical period, contact +33 1 53 26 21 00.
