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Origin and history

The Convent of the Ladies of the Faith, located in Périgueux, Dordogne, finds its origins in the 12th century, in a context where the city was a religious and commercial crossroads. The first written mention dates from 1247, under the name "House of the Temple" located rue des Farges, then major axis linking the Cité to Puy-Saint-Front. This building originally belonged to the Templars, before being ceded in 1332 by Arnaud de Serres, commander of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, to a local bourgeois, Hugo Peyroni. The deed of sale specifies that the sum would be used to acquire land in Marsac, marking the transfer of property to influential bourgeois families.

In the 14th century, the house passed into the hands of Peyroni's heirs, including the daughter Maria, wife of Hélie III Ségui. Their descendants, including Marguerite Ségui and alliances with the Vernoilh and Amault de Golse families, consolidate their status as prestigious real estate property. In 1376 Bertrand du Guesclin reportedly stayed there during his visit to Périgueux, while the house belonged to Jordana Ségui. The coat of arms of the Amault de Golse, visible in the cellars, attests to their grip on the site until the 16th century, when the Arnault de Laborie family inherited it by marriage. Their coat of arms still adorns the Renaissance portal.

The house underwent upheavals during the Wars of Religion: in 1575, Protestants looted it and transformed it into a fortress until 1581. Restored around 1600, she remained in the Arnault family until 1680, when it was given to the Congregation of the Ladies of the Faith, dedicated to the conversion of young Protestant women. The convent disappeared at the Revolution (1792), and the building successively became episcopal residence, beggars, and then rented housing after structural changes in the 19th century. Ranked a historical monument in 2011, it reveals during excavations in 2000 wall paintings from the 13th–XIVth centuries, and its facade is restored in 2018.

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