Couvent des Annonciades, Renaissance convent in Bordeaux, France
The Couvent des Annonciades is a Renaissance convent in Bordeaux featuring a rectangular cloister with elaborately decorated capitals. The main entrance is marked by a monumental portal from 1774 located on Magendie Street.
The convent was founded in 1520 by Jacquette Andron de Lansac and received seven nuns from Albi. Master mason Mathurin Galoppin constructed the chapel in 1521.
The convent's name comes from the Order of the Annunciation founded at Bourges in 1501 by Jeanne de Valois, daughter of Louis XI. The Bordeaux house, the order's third, was established in 1519 by Jacquette de Lansac, who brought seven nuns from Albi. Vault keystones in the chapel carry the arms of the Lansac, Gelais and Pons families.
Access to the convent is typically restricted and available to visitors mainly during Heritage Days events. It is advisable to check beforehand about current visiting opportunities to avoid disappointment.
In 1792 the sisters were expelled and the buildings were turned into a saltpeter works (salpêtrière). In 1808 Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte de Lamourous bought them for her Miséricorde community, which housed former prostitutes and unmarried mothers, at times more than four hundred boarders. The tomb Jacquette de Lansac asked for in her will was never installed in the chapel.
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