Architectural and urban study of convents and churches built in France for the nuns of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, according to the architectural style designed by its founders in 1610 , Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal .
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Founded by Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal in Annecy in 1610 , the order of the Visitation of Holy Mary had experienced tremendous growth throughout France ( 134 convents and churches at the time of the Revolution ) . Reflects the attractiveness of the Salesian spirituality movement. Convent creation is accompanied by a prodigious constructive movement whose breadth and originality arise mainly from the specificity of female monasticism in the post- Tridentine period . Subject to the rule of strict enclosure, the Visitation must remain secluded and “invisible” within the confines of their convent. They are also required , unlike the medieval use , to settle in the city and only partially open to the outside “world” by giving access to their church to laity and welcoming women retreatants and young girl boarders . Finally, they must abide by , before building , the type of map drawn at the instigation of the founders in order to maintain the architectural unity of the order. Between ideals and pragmatism , the Visitation constructions derive both the rule of life of the nuns of modern times and the permanent tension between traditional economic and social values of monasticism (poverty, denial, isolation) and topographic contingencies , the urban reality. More than 300 illustrations, maps, plans . Directory lists convents of the Visitation in France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries , bibliography, index.
This website embeds a video about the book with on site photos of the various Monasteries. In French.