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Origin and history

The Chapel of the Visitation, also known as the Round Chapel, is a vestige of the Visitandines convent built in the 18th century in Nancy. It was built between 1780 and 1782, replacing a first stone laid in 1667 by Duke Charles IV of Lorraine. Its neoclassical architecture, with a round chapel topped by a caisson dome, makes it a unique building in Lorraine. The exterior, sober, is decorated with a carved group of Johann Joseph Söntgen representing Faith and Hope.

During the Revolution, the chapel became a museum of fine arts with seized works, such as the Annunciation of Caravage (1608) and a copy of the Marriage of Cana of Verona. In 1802, she was integrated into the Imperial High School of Nancy (now Henri-Poincaré High School), after the transfer of the Stanislas Square museum. The crypt, visited by Emperor Francis Joseph in 1867, kept the tombs of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours.

Ranked a historic monument in 1916, the chapel is distinguished by its interior peristyle and its glass window illuminating the dome. Although closed to worship, it occasionally opens during Heritage Days. Its history reflects the political and cultural upheavals of Lorraine, from the 17th to the 19th century, from convent to museum, then to school chapel.

The convent of the Visitandines, founded near that of the Minimes (1592), was partially destroyed during the Revolution. The chapel, the only surviving one with an adjoining wing, illustrates Nancy's religious and educational heritage. His early neoclassical style in Lorraine made him a key witness to architectural evolution and cultural uses under the Old Regime and the Empire.

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