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Origin and history

The Benedictine convent of Calvary of Angers, also known as the Calvairian convent, is a Benedictine monastery founded in the early seventeenth century. A member of the Fontevrault congregation, he moved to Angers in 1619 under the leadership of Antoinette d'Orléans and Capuchin Joseph, with the support of Marie de Médicis, then governor of Anjou. The chosen site, in the district of La Doutre, previously housed a medieval chapel, Notre-Dame-de-Consolation, and a 13th century mansion, the mansion of Bellepoigne, both destroyed to give way to the new convent.

The construction began in 1620 with the laying of the first stone of the church on April 25, in the presence of Pierre de Rohan, Prince of Guéméné, and his wife Antoinette of Brittany, benefactors of the project. The architect Vincent Camus, also author of the convent of Minimes (today destroyed), oversees the works, which are completed around 1623. The church was blessed in 1651 by Bishop Henri Arnauld, while the convent buildings, including the porterry pavilion (1674) and the commons, were erected or rebuilt during the seventeenth century.

During the French Revolution, the convent was confiscated and transformed into a prison between 1792 and 1820, with its church temporarily becoming a parish. In 1821, the congregation purchased the premises and undertook major restoration work in the 19th century. The church was remodeled in an angeline Gothic style between 1875 and 1877, with contributions from sculptors Chapeau, Moisseron and Ruault. The convent, which is still active, was listed as a historical monument in 1964 for its facades, roofs and garden.

The buildings preserve traces of their turbulent history, such as the weapons of the benefactors (Rohan-Guéméné) or those of Pius IX, affixed during the construction of a building body dedicated to the boarding school of girls in the 19th century. Today, the convent remains a place of religious life and an architectural testimony of the 17th and 19th centuries, mixing classical, Gothic and later restoration elements.

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