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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The convent of the Cordeliers of Dijon was founded in 1243 on a land offered by a bourgeois named Aubin, near Saint-Pierre Street (now Pasteur Street). Two small churches were built in 1318 and 1334, dedicated to Notre-Dame. In the 1370s, the brothers-minor built a larger church, famous for its stained glass windows and carved tombs with noble personalities, such as Blanche de Bourgogne and his daughter Jeanne de Savoie. The building, badly built, underwent repairs in 1421, then a collapse of the vault in 1650, requiring almost complete reconstruction by architect Jean Braconnier. The new church was consecrated in 1680 by the bishop of Chalon.

During the Revolution, in 1790, the funeral monuments were destroyed and the religious were expelled. The convent, sold as a national property, was partially razed during the drilling of Franklin and Turgot streets in 1791. Only remains of the lateral chapels remained, which were finally destroyed in 1869. In 1860 the Dominicans bought the ruins and restored the site, which would house a religious community until 2002. Today, after rehabilitation, it hosts a hotel and a cloister partially open to the public.

The convent played a central role in Dijon's life under the Old Regime. From 1602 to the Revolution, the states of Burgundy held their three-year sessions in the refectory. It also housed the burials of noble robins, such as Georges Joly, whose tomb carved by Jean Dubois is now exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon. The Cordeliers were appreciated for their teaching and their Third Franciscan Order, active until the 18th century.

The remains (church, cloister, refectory and buildings of the 13th and 18th centuries) were classified as historical monuments in 1946. The site, renovated in 2015 under the direction of architect François Chatillon, now combines heritage and hotel use, while maintaining areas accessible to the public.

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