In the Middle Ages, at the beginning of the second half of the 14th century, the nuns of the Order of Saint Catherine built a convent1.
After the religious wars that heralded the Reformation and during the episcopate of Bishop Pierre Fenouillet, a desire for religious reconquest by Catholics was realized in the city of Montpellier2. In 1641, Pierre Fenouillet obtained from his counterpart Fulcrand de Barrès the order to bring six nuns from the Order of Sainte-Ursule de Pézenas. They devoted themselves to the education of poor girls and were settled in part of the convent rebuilt in 1657, which took the name of the Ursuline Convent3. The building was then built by the architect Jean Bonnassier4.
From 1697 to 1738, during the episcopate of the Jansenist bishop Joachim de Colbert, the Ursulines were supported to secure their vocation as teachers, open new classes and welcome many residents3. By 1748, however, his successor, Bishop Berger de Charancy, hostile to Jansenism, had the residents withdrawn by entrusting them to the neighboring Visitandine monastery as well as to the Vignogoul monastery3,5.
Although the monastery was initially used for religious purposes, it was gradually reused for various warlike reasons. It then functioned as a prison (during the Revolution), then as a barracks for a few years, then again as a prison and then as a women's prison from 18256 to 1934, then as a military prison (in particular during the occupation, the Gestapo occupied the Ursuline convent as a center for interrogation and detention of the resistance fighters) and again as a barracks (Grossetti barracks: Air Force information office) in the post-war period until 1986.
The purchase of the Ursuline convent by the municipality takes place in several stages, following the various administrative procedures: as early as 1980, the City of Montpellier announces that it will acquire the site, the Army does not move until 1986 and, following an agreement, the City immediately occupies the premises7, even if the final acquisition deed is not completed until two years later.
Translated by Google •
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