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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The former convent of the Brothers of the Holy Spirit in Narbonne was founded around 1180 by Guy Garrejat, allied to the lords of Montpellier. The regular canons, organized as knight and clergy brothers, adopted the rule of St Augustine. Their presence in the village of Narbonne is attested from the beginning of the thirteenth century, a period of prosperity where the remains of the cloister still visible today were built, like the arches in lancets of the southern wall. The knight brothers were abolished in 1459 by Pope Pius II, while the canons persisted until the French Revolution.

After the gradual disappearance of order around 1350, the convent changed hands several times. In the 18th century, it housed a verdet (copper acetate) factory, whose corrosive vapours irreversibly damaged the sculptures. The building retains prominent architectural elements: a basket handle door, a covered passage leading to an inner courtyard, two vaulted halls on warheads, and a polygonal tower with a screw staircase, probably dating back to the late 15th century. Internal redistributions in the 19th century partially altered its original structure.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1946, the site illustrates the legacy of medieval religious orders in Occitanie. The flowered motifs of the interior doors, characteristic of the 15th–12th century transition, and the industrial degradations of the 20th century testify to its turbulent history, between spirituality, seigneurial power and economic conversion. The current coordinates place the convent at 8 rue Rabelais, although its precise location remains approximate (level 5/10).

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