Tonnerre Patrimoine

Ursuline Convent

The origin of this building can be traced back to the Ursuline nuns of Tonnerre who, driven out of their convent by the French Revolution, were forced to find a new home in the early days of the Empire. They first bought a modest house, then, as the years went by, the adjoining buildings. In 1905, the implementation of the law on the separation of Church and State led to a further dissolution of the community. The buildings were bought by the town, which set up the boys' secondary school there.
The beautifully decorated building we can admire today is the property of the elementary school.
In the course of 1790, the Ursulines' historic convent, where they had been established in the previous century, was closed. The buildings then housed one of the new administrations of the Revolution: the District. Some nuns returned to their families, or sought asylum at the hospital in Tonnerre, whose Augustine community had not yet been abolished. Most, however, were taken in by M. Bazile, with whom they stayed throughout the Revolutionary period.
Under the Empire, although religious communities had their rights restored, most of them found themselves without a roof over their heads, since in the vast majority of cases, abbeys, monasteries and convents had been sold as national property. Tonnerre was no exception.
The nuns therefore looked for a new place to live and, pooling their savings, bought a small house on rue des Prêtres Notre-Dame (now rue Pasteur). They immediately opened a room to teach the young women of Tonner. As the years went by, the quality of their teaching gained in popularity and the premises soon became too small. The community bought the land and buildings around their house, and built up a park. In 1860, the new convent property consisted of a large chapel, community buildings, a boarding school, courtyards and gardens.
In 1905, the implementation of the law on the separation of Church and State led to a further dissolution of the religious community. The buildings were bought by the town, which set up a boys' secondary school.