Couvent des Carmes

English translation

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History

The Carmelites settled at La Rochefoucauld in 1329. The convent achieved its greatest extension in the 15th and 16th centuries (enlargement of buildings, school of philosophy and theology). Occupied by the Huguenots in 1563-1564, the convent was pillaged and sacked in 1570 and 1572. The state of ruin persisted until the beginning of the 17th century. Used as a college in the 19th and 20th centuries, the convent underwent alterations to façades and numerous modifications (partitioning, division of the church into two levels). The convent is centered on the cloister of the late 14th-early 15th century. The church of the 14th century occupies the south wing. In the 17th century, an aisle vaulted on ribs was added to the south. The bell tower (15th or 16th century) is a polygonal tower containing a spiral staircase. The buildings of the west and east wings were substantially altered between 1883 and 1886. The north wing is a building of original Romanesque construction which could be a house prior to the settlement of the Carmelites.