Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The convent of the Visitation of Condrieu originated in 1631, when Claude de Villars, inspired by his meeting with Saint-François de Sales, offered the family home to the Sisters of the Visitation. This foundation contract marks the beginning of a Conventual Set that gradually expands. Between 1647 and 1650, two houses were built to meet the needs of the nuns, followed in 1657 by the acquisition of the building garden. These early extensions reflect the adaptation of the site to monastic life, while maintaining architectural elements such as medieval mouldings in the windows of the cells.

The chapel, built in 1664, became the spiritual heart of the convent. From 1670 to 1676, the monastery was enriched with new spaces: a meeting room, a chapter, an attic, a bakery and an oratory. These developments illustrate the functional and community expansion of the site. However, the French Revolution interrupted this continuity: the sisters were expelled in 1792, and the cloister was destroyed. Their return in 1809 was accompanied by the purchase of the buildings in 1830 and the reconstruction of the cloister in 1835, demonstrating their perseverance.

Among the outstanding elements remaining today are a monumental Gothic fireplace in the old kitchen and a French ceiling in the dining room. These architectural details, combined with the medieval mouling of the windows, highlight the superposition of periods and styles within the convent. Ranked a Historical Monument in 1988, the whole, now privately owned, thus preserves the memory of a major religious and historical heritage of the region.

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