Foundation of the convent 1643 (≈ 1643)
Arrival of the seven visitandines in Limoges.
1650-1680
Construction of the monastery
Construction of the monastery 1650-1680 (≈ 1665)
Chapel and cloister built gradually.
vers 1775
Renovation by Brousseau
Renovation by Brousseau vers 1775 (≈ 1775)
Integration of the church with the buildings.
2011
Inauguration Hotel du Département
Inauguration Hotel du Département 2011 (≈ 2011)
New administrative and cultural vocation.
2016
Opening of the chapel to the public
Opening of the chapel to the public 2016 (≈ 2016)
Multipurpose space after restoration.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
The Chapel of the Visitation, the cloister and the door to the courtyard (Box DN 45, 96): inscription by order of 16 September 1949
Key figures
Françoise-Gabrielle de Douhet - Religious visitor
Founder of the convent in 1643.
Brousseau - Limousin architect
Author of the 18th century works.
Origin and history
The Visitation barracks came into being in 1643 when Françoise-Gabrielle de Douhet, a visiting nun, founded with six sisters the first institute of order in Limoges. Set up in modest houses along the road to Paris (now rue François Chénieux), they gradually developed a convent between 1650 and 1680, with chapel, corps-de-logis and cloître. This work transforms a simple set of houses into a structured monastery, reflecting the expansion of the post-Catholic Reform religious communities in Limousin.
In the 18th century, the Limousin architect Brousseau began a major overhaul of the site around 1775. It integrates the church with the convent buildings, remodels the southeast part and removes the original oratory. This project is part of a series of local creations in Brousseau, such as the palace of the bishopric or the lycée Gay-Lussac. The Revolution chased the nuns in 1790, and the convent, confiscated, became a military barracks, marking a radical change of vocation for the places.
In 2006, the Department of Haute-Vienne acquired the site to consolidate its previously dispersed services. The work, launched in 2008, transforms the former barracks into Hotel du Département, inaugurated in 2011. The chapel, restored in 2015, is today a versatile space (theatre, exhibitions) open to the public since 2016. This project combines heritage preservation and administrative modernization, while restoring a civil and cultural dimension to the monument.
The site preserves remarkable architectural elements, such as the cloister with the thirty-two arches full hanger of the seventeenth century or the 18th-century circular chapel, classified as Historic Monument in 1949. The entrance door, framed by doric pilasters and surmounted by a triangular pediment, bears witness to the visitandine identity of the place. These vestiges illustrate the successive phases of construction, from convenential origins to military and administrative adaptation.
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