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Origin and history

The Convent of the Presentation-Our Lady of Senlis was founded around 1629 by the bishop of Senlis, following the rule of Saint Augustine, to offer free instruction to young girls. For its construction, eleven houses and one square were acquired to build the buildings. The nuns officially settled there on 24 July 1629, and the church was inaugurated in 1645. This educational and religious project marked the city for a long time, combining teaching and monastic life under one architectural ensemble.

The spatial organization of the convent reflected its dual vocation. On the Saint Vincent Abbey there were regular places, including the church and the cloister, while the boarding school teaching building was located towards Bordeaux Street. An underground passage under the Rue de Meaux connected these two parts, allowing the nuns to circulate discreetly. Under the courtyard of the boarding school, vaulted cellars of the 13th century, with dogive crosses, testify to an earlier occupation of the site, adding a medieval historical dimension to this 17th century convent.

The convent was partially protected under the Historic Monuments in 2001. The facades, roofs and cellars under the wing of the building on Rue de Meaux (odd numbers) were entered by order of 10 December 2001. Today, the site is a private property, and its current use (visits, rentals, accommodation) is not specified in the available sources. Its architecture and history nevertheless make it an important testimony of women's education and religious life in Senlis in the seventeenth and thirteenth centuries.

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