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Origin and history

The Convent of the Calvairians of Chinon was established in 1626 by Benedictine nuns of the Order of Notre-Dame du Calvaire, who came from Angers at the request of the Archbishop of Tours Bertrand d'Eschaux and the municipal body. The buildings, built between 1628 and 1636, are organized around a quadrangular cloister with arch vaulted galleries, with a chapel facing east, surmounted by a campanile near its southern gable. The wooden entrance gate, always preserved, bears witness to the original architecture.

After the departure of the nuns during the French Revolution, the convent was converted in 1794 into a Saint-Michel hospital, marking a radical change in vocation. The facades and roof of the chapel, ravaged by a fire in the late 1970s, were partially rebuilt in the 1980s. The site, listed as a historical monument in 1966 for its preserved elements (cloister, gables, buildings west, south and north), was renovated in 2014 as a tourist residence.

Located to the west of Chinon Castle, on a terrace overlooking Vienna of about 15 meters, the convent illustrates the strategic religious settlement of the seventeenth century. The medieval path along the river, now in retreat from the modern road, passes south of the site, highlighting its integration into the historical landscape. Architectural remains, such as the vaults of the cloister or the displaced portal, offer an overview of its monastic and hospitable past.

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