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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Chapel of Saint Mary, also known as the Chapel of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, is a Catholic building located in Nevers, Nièvre department. It has been classified as historical monuments since 1862. This monument is the only remaining standing vestige of the Visitation Monastery, founded in the 17th century.

The building of the monastery, of which the chapel is part, began in 1623 and finished in 1634. The first stone of the chapel was laid in June 1639 by Louise-Marie de Gonzague, the future queen of Poland, and the works were completed in 1649. This monastery was the seventh foundation of the Order of Visitation Sainte-Marie, created in 1610 in Annecy by François de Sales and Jeanne de Chantal. The establishment was made possible thanks to Vincent Bouzitat, a bourgeois of Nevers, whose two daughters wanted to devote themselves to religious life.

The convent of the visitandines of Nevers was initially located on Rue Saint-Martin, in three houses accompanied by a large garden extending up to the city walls. Today, only the chapel, known for its baroque facade, remains of this monastery, a rare style in the Nivernais region. The nuns have since relocated to a new monastery located road of the Saulauies in Nevers.

The chapel is also associated with a spiritual and satirical poem, Ver-Vert, or the Voyages du parrot de la Visitation de Nevers, written in 1734 by Jean-Baptiste Gresset. This text evokes the lives of nuns and their environment, adding a cultural dimension to the history of this place.

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