Built in 1621 during the reign of Louis XIII, it represents the fervent Catholic king's desire to control the rebellious Protestant town. It is located on the site of the old medieval castle's gardens, and the stones from that very castle (and those of its ramparts!) were used in the new religious structure.
When Louis XIII came to Bergerac, legend has it that the town's fountains ran with wine as he travelled the streets!
Récollets monks of the Franciscan order set up in the monastery in 1629 to convert the people to Catholicism. After the French Revolution, the Récollets were driven out and the monastery was sold... to Protestants!
Its cloisters are now part of Quai Cyrano. It has an authentic charm with its wooden galleries, columns and brickwork... and is also infused with serenity thanks to the hundred-year-old Paulownia tree at the centre of the structure.