Temple protestant de La Rochelle, Protestant temple in La Rochelle, France

The Temple protestant de La Rochelle stands on Rue Saint-Michel in a former Franciscan Recollet monastery. Its light beige stone facade, typical of the Counter-Reformation in France, rises to a triangular pediment above a tall arched window; two lower banded wings flank it, each with a blind arched niche, and a stone balustrade runs along the base. The nave was rearranged for Calvinist preaching, with woodwork and a pulpit of 1836.

Protestants opened La Rochelle's first public worship room on Rue Saint-Michel in 1561. After the 1628 siege, Louis XIII backed a Catholic revival, and the Recollets friars settled in the Saint-Michel hall, building a cloister and church in 1691. The church burned in 1705 and was rebuilt the following year. Confiscated during the Revolution, it was bought in 1793 by merchant Ranson for the city's Protestant families and definitively assigned to Reformed worship in 1798.

The temple belongs to the United Protestant Church of France, and since 1931 it has housed the Musée rochelais d'histoire protestante, founded on the collections of pastor Samuel Eynard. The museum traces the history of Protestantism in France, especially in La Rochelle and the surrounding region. The building has remained assigned to Protestant worship since 1995, when the congregation donated it to the city.

The temple is centrally located and easily reached on foot from downtown La Rochelle with clear signage marking the route. Visitors should plan their visit around active worship times and approach the space respectfully, as it remains an active place of gathering for the community.

The organ was built by Joseph Merklin in 1892 as a salon organ and installed here in 1897, replacing a Cavaillé-Coll choir organ. Its walnut case has a five-axis prospect with three tall pipe flats; carved cartouches on the blind panels read S. BACH and F. LISZT. Yves Fossaert restored it in 2015–2016.