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Origin and history

The abbey of Port-Royal of Paris was founded in the 2nd quarter of the 17th century to decongeste the mother abbey of Port-Royal des Champs. Located in the former hotel of Clagny (built by Pierre Lescot between 1566-1569), it was ceded in 1624 to Angélique Arnauld, reformative abbess, by exchange for an annuity. The monastic buildings and the chapel (1646-1648, architect Antoine Lepautre) were built under his direction, with an interior counting bias.

The convent became a home of Jansenism, marked by theological conflicts. In 1664 the nuns refused to retract were expelled and replaced by the visitandines. Closed in 1790 during the Revolution, the abbey served as a prison (1790-1795) under the name Port-libre, welcoming figures like Malesherbes. Its premises were then converted into a maternity hospital (1795) and then integrated into the Cochin Hospital in the 20th century.

The chapel, the cloister (1652-1655), and the capitular hall were classified as historical monuments in 1933, while the facades of the adjacent buildings were inscribed in 1928. The site also housed the Baudelocque Clinic (1890), a pioneer in obstetrics and neonatology, with figures such as Alexandre Minkowski. Baudelocque's buildings were demolished in 2007, but the cloister and chapel remain within the hospital.

The abbey was a place of intense intellectual and religious life, linked to personalities such as Blaise Pascal (whose niece, Marguerite Périer, was miraculously healed) or painter Philippe de Champaigne. The Constitutions of Agnes Arnauld (abbess 1661-1671) defined a strict rule for converse sisters, mixing humility and devotion. After the Revolution, the site became a medical symbol, with innovations such as the first radiographic laboratory (1897).

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