A little history of Avignon Celestins convent
And also
The tops
The church |
Véronique PAGNIER / CC-BY-SA
The former Célestins convent was founded by pope Clement VII, fit out on the location of a former cemetery, where saint Pierre of Luxembourg was buried in 1387 at the age of 19.
Bishop of Tulle Jean de Chateauneuf laid down the first stone of the church with king of France Charles VI, his uncles Jean of Berry, Philippe of Burgundy and his brother Louis d’Orléans. The construction started in 1395 but never ended! Then they raised the monastery.
The convent became very rich. The richest one in Avignon!
Good king René of Anjou gave it plenty of treasures: a piece from the Holy Cross full of precious gems, a retable… But the convent was sold in 1795, transformed into a military hospital and into a jail in 1853.