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Origin and history

The former convent of the Recollets, located on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Martin in Paris, was founded in the early 17th century by the Friars Minor of the Close Observance of Saint Francis, a reformed branch of the Franciscans. In 1604, Henri IV authorized their installation on a plot offered by Jacques Cottard, a tapestryer. The first stone of the convent and its church was laid in 1614 by Marie de Medici. The site, with a renowned library, illustrates the religious architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries. Its current buildings, dating from the 18th century, preserve traces of this period, such as the chapel and a wrought iron staircase.

Closed in 1790 during the Revolution, the convent was transformed in 1802 into a hospice for incurable men, then into a military hospital in 1861, named after Villemin Hospital in 1913 as a tribute to physician Jean-Antoine Villemin, a pioneer in the fight against tuberculosis. During the two world wars, its proximity to the northern and eastern stations made it a strategic place to treat soldiers. A shell fired by Grosse Bertha exploded there in 1918. The hospital closed permanently in 1968, marked by the age of its equipment.

After its closure, the site temporarily houses a school of architecture (UP1) in the 1970s and then becomes a squat artist between 1990 and 1992, a period marked by a fire. In 1999, the State authorized temporary artistic occupation. In 2003, the International Centre for Reception and Exchange opened, dedicated to foreign artists and writers. Today, the place also houses the order of architects of Île-de-France, the House of Architecture, and a cultural para-hotel residence. The facades, roofs, and chapel have been classified as historical monuments since 1974.

The garden of the convent, separated from the site, today forms the Villemin garden. The monumental door of the old hospital, visible on 8 Rue des Recollets, recalls its hospital and military history. The convent, threatened with destruction after 1968, was finally preserved, testifying to its evolution from a religious place to a contemporary cultural space.

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