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Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques · France

Ancien couvent des Ursulines

Quimper, Finistère, France

The record

Designation
Historic monument, registered (inscrit), in part
Protection
inscrit MH partiellement
Extent of protection
Façades et toitures ; escalier et mur intérieur (cad. BN 326) : inscription par arrêté du 12 mars 1987
Protection dates
1987/03/12 : inscrit MH
Type
couvent
Main period of construction
18e siècle
Ownership
propriété de la commune
Commune
Quimper
Département
Finistère
Region
Bretagne
Country
France
Coordinates
47.99595, -4.10884
Mérimée reference
PA00090329

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1708 map "Le Bretagne." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

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This record on the Ministère de la Culture's POP platform ↗

The Ministère de la Culture's notice

Situé à la jonction des quartiers de la place Saint-Mathieu et de la place de la Tour d'Auvergne, point clef de l'urbanisme du centre ancien de Quimper, l'ancien couvent des Ursulines se compose de deux corps de logis en équerre. A la frontière d'un tissu de petites maisons de ville, le caractère imposant lié à la sobriété de son architecture est valorisé par le jeu des contrastes. Le couvent des Ursulines de Quimper fut le premier établissement du diocèse. Le développement du pensionnat amena les religieuses du couvent à construire, au milieu du 18e siècle, ce que l'on appelait les nouvelles Ursulines. En 1790, la communauté comprenait 41 religieuses ; lors de la Terreur, elles furent expulsées, et au moment du Concordat de 1801, les Ursulines ne récupérèrent pas leurs bâtiments : le nouveau devint caserne et l'ancien, prison criminelle (il a disparu et a été remplacé en 1937 par les halles Saint-Mathieu).

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Situated at the junction of the districts of place Saint-Mathieu and place de la Tour d'Auvergne, a key point in the urban planning of the old centre of Quimper, the former convent of the Ursulines consists of two main dwellings arranged in an L-shape. At the boundary of a tissue of small townhouses, the imposing character linked to the sobriety of its architecture is valued by the play of contrasts. The convent of the Ursulines of Quimper was the first establishment of the diocese. The development of the boarding school led the nuns of the convent to build, in the middle of the 18th century, what was called the new Ursulines. In 1790, the community comprised 41 nuns; during the Terror, they were expelled, and at the time of the Concordat of 1801, the Ursulines did not recover their buildings: the new one became a barracks and the old one, a criminal prison (it disappeared and was replaced in 1937 by the Saint-Mathieu market halls).

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Base Mérimée, Ministère de la Culture, data last updated 2026-09-17, reused under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab). Record text is reproduced unchanged. Ministère de la Culture · Licence Ouverte 2.0
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