Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Priory of Notre-Dame de Vitré, attested from the twelfth century, was rebuilt in the 1680s by the Benedictine Maurists. This urban monastery, located at the highest point of the closed city, breaks with the traditional convent plans: the cloister is integrated with the wings, and the priory is not joined to the Church of Our Lady, but connected by the sacristy. Its architecture reflects the sobriety and symmetry typical of the Saint-Maur Congregation, with cloister galleries not in appentis but integrated into the buildings.

In the 17th century, the priory became a place of civilian power: it housed the court and sub-prefecture until 1926, before hosting only the court of instance. Ranked a historic monument in 1987, the site is partially restored in the 21st century. Since 2005, the North Wing has been home to the French Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage, an arm of the Maison des cultures du monde. The modifications of the 19th century include re-built attices, a park to the west, and a neo-Renaissance pediment decorated with the city's weapons.

The priory was led by communatary priors until the 17th century, when the Maurists took control of it. Among them, Isaac Hay (1561–1631), a converted Protestant, marked the history of the place by founding masses and distributions to the poor. His nephew, Simeon Hay du Chastelet, was the last secular prior prior before the transfer to the Maurists in 1658. The priory's income came in particular from the tithes of La Bouëxière, Chevré and Sevailles, attested in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The architectural complex, owned by the municipality, includes a square cloister opened by arcades in the middle of the wall, a paneled room classified as movable objects, and facades protected since 1987. Its strategic location, dominating the Vilaine and the closed city, makes it a central part of the preserved area of Vitré, associated with the church of Notre-Dame and the nearby castle.

Historical sources, such as the Mémoires de Dom Morice (1742–46), document the list of priors and the site's transformations. The priory thus illustrates the evolution of urban monasteries, moving from a religious place to an administrative building, before becoming a space dedicated to the preservation of intangible heritage.

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