Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Priory Saint-Nicolas, called Les Basses-Loges, was a Carmelite monastery founded in the seventeenth century in Avon, Seine-et-Marne. Originally, a twelve-bed pilgrim hospice, built in 1310 under spiritual supervision, occupied this site at the crossroads of two major streets. This place became a priory after it was taken over by the Carmelites of Touraine in 1632, marking the abandonment of its initial charitable vocation.

The prosperity of the priory was linked to Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII, who prayed there after 22 years of marriage without a child. According to legend, his prayer was answered with the birth of the future Louis XIV in 1638. Thanks to his gifts, then to those of Marie-Thérèse, wife of Louis XIV, the monastery grew: chapel, convent buildings and six monks' cells were built. These buildings date from the second half of the 17th century, a key period for the site.

The French Revolution dispersed the monks in 1791. The nationalized buildings were sold to Pierre Philibert Giot, the future mayor of Avon, who demolished the church and chapel to transform the priory into a country house. The site changed hands several times before being acquired in 1922 by the esoterist Georges I. Gurdjieff, who founded his Institute for the harmonious development of man there. The writer Katherine Mansfield, her disciple, died there in 1923.

Partially classified as historical monuments in 1991 (facades, roofs and garden), the priory, threatened with demolition, was renovated in the 1990s. Today, there remains a single building of the original complex, bearing witness to its turbulent history, between spirituality, royal power and esoteric heritage.

External links