Sale as a national good 1790 (environ) (≈ 1790)
Loss of religious vocation.
17 septembre 1997
Registration for historical monuments
Registration for historical monuments 17 septembre 1997 (≈ 1997)
Official heritage recognition.
1999
Acquisition by the Community of the Country of Aix
Acquisition by the Community of the Country of Aix 1999 (≈ 1999)
Transformation into a municipal media library.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Former church (real estate on its right-of-way) (Box BP 1): registration by order of 17 September 1997
Key figures
Information non disponible - No key character mentioned
The source text does not mention any specific historical actor related to this monument.
Origin and history
The church of the Carmelites of Pertuis, located in the department of Vaucluse, was built in the early sixteenth century, between 1521 and 1535, after the destruction of the original building by a tornado in 1515. This first convent of the Grand Carmes, founded in the late 15th century (circa 1498), was partially destroyed by this climatic phenomenon, requiring complete reconstruction. The campanile was added in 1559, completing the architectural aspect that the building retained until the French Revolution.
Sold as a national good during the Revolution, the church lost its religious vocation to successively become a theatre, an establishment of agricultural machinery, and then a hardware store from the end of the 19th century. This change in usage continued until 1999, when the Community of Aix acquired the premises to install a municipal media library. The building was listed as a historic monument on 17 September 1997, recognizing its heritage importance.
The history of this monument reflects the political and social upheavals of France, from its initial role in local spiritual life to its adaptation to modern economic and cultural needs. Its architecture, preserved despite the centuries, bears witness to the construction techniques of the Renaissance in Provence, while illustrating the reuse of religious spaces after the secularization of ecclesiastical goods.
Today, the old church of the Carmelites, located on Rue Henri-Silvy in Pertuis, remains a symbol of the historical and architectural heritage of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its inscription in the title of historical monuments and its transformation into a media library underline its anchoring in collective memory and its contemporary usefulness.
