Couvent de la Merci, Historical monument in Le Marais, France.

The Couvent de la Merci is a former monastery at 45 rue des Archives in Paris. Its buildings, constructed by Charles Chamois in the 17th century and rebuilt from 1727 to 1731 by Pierre François Godot, form a U-shaped plan around a closed courtyard entered through a street portal. Two sundials are on the facades: one on the building at the back of the courtyard, the other on the right wing. The central building has an 18th-century staircase.

Marie de Médicis installed the Fathers of Mercy here in 1613, on the site of a hospice and chapel founded in 1348 by Arnould de Braque. The convent buildings were built by Charles Chamois in the 17th century, then partly rebuilt from 1727 to 1731 by architect Pierre François Godot, who kept some 17th-century elements. Closed in 1790, the convent was used to hold prisoners awaiting the guillotine, sold in 1799 and later divided into flats.

The Order of Our Lady of Mercy was founded in 1218 to ransom Christians captured by Barbary corsairs and later became a charitable and missionary order. Marie de Medici installed the Mercedarian Fathers here in 1613, on the site of a hospice and chapel founded in 1348 by Arnould de Braque. The street-facing sundial on the right wing carries the Latin motto "utere dum luceat", meaning "make use of it while it shines".

The building is located on Rue des Archives in the Marais district and can be viewed from the street, where the central courtyard is visible from the main gate. The best time to observe the facade and sundials is during daylight hours when the stone details are clearly visible.

The sundial visible from the street carries the Latin motto "utere dum luceat" (use it while it shines), while the second, hidden from passersby, shows the angel of death holding a scythe as an allegory of Time. The convent was used during the Revolution to hold prisoners awaiting the guillotine.