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Origin and history

The convent of the Cordeliers of Paris, founded in the 13th century under the impulse of Louis IX, was a Franciscan monastic establishment located in the current 6th arrondissement. His refectory, the only remaining vestige, was completed in 1506. The convent housed a chapel, cloisters, gardens and a royal library temporarily installed under Henry IV. It became a place of teaching and spiritual life, supported by the kings of France and the pope.

During the French Revolution, the convent was requisitioned by the Club des Cordeliers, led by Danton and Desmoulins, before being turned into a hospital for the wounded of the Tuileries assault in 1792. After the dissolution of the club in 1795, the site was awarded to the École de santé de Paris, which was created in 1794 to train surgeons of the Republic. The convent buildings were gradually demolished between 1795 and 1877.

In the 19th century, the convent became the seat of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris, erected in 1808. The refectory, listed as a historic monument in 1975, housed the Dupuytren Museum until 2016. Today, the site hosts faculties of medicine (Paris-Cité and Sorbonne University), research laboratories, and the refectory is used for cultural and scientific events.

The refectory, the only medieval vestige, was restored by the Régie immobilier de la ville de Paris. It now serves as an event hall for conferences, exhibitions and salons, while maintaining its heritage architecture. The cloister houses administrative services and housing for researchers, thus continuing its vocation as a place of knowledge and exchange.

The Cordeliers convent illustrates the evolution of a religious place into a secular space dedicated to medicine and research. Its history reflects the political and scientific upheavals of Paris, from the Ancien Régime to the present, while preserving an exceptional architectural heritage.

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