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Bernardines de Dijon

In 1623, Cistercian nuns from the abbey of Tart arrived in Dijon to pursue their reform work. They acquired land, esta-blished a cloister between 1679 and1681, and built a house for their Chaplain in 1693. Louis Trestournel, a brother of the Congregation of the Oratory was entrusted with the plans of the church, which he modelled after the prestigious church of the Visitation of Paris, Sainte-Marie-des-Anges. Construction began in 1699 and the edifice was consecrated in 1710. After the French Revolution dispersed the Bernardine sisters, the church was used as a storehouse for artworks while the monastery was turned into barracks. In 1803, the Hospice of Sainte-Anne, founded in the 17th century, took over the premises. In 1950 the City of Dijon purchased the church, classed Historical Monument, and acquired the remaining buildings in 1979. Thereafter a vast restoration campaign was undertaken to create the Museum of Sacred Art in the church and the Museum of Burgundian Life in the cloister. In 1993 the two museums were joined to recreate the original plan of this 17th - 18th century Cistercian monastery, which stands between courtyard and garden in the heart of Dijon. The City of Dijon is richly endowed with Cistercian art and architecture, including ancient manuscripts from the Abbey of Citeaux kept in the municipal library, and the beautiful two- -levelled 13th century cellars of Clairvaux, used today as exhibition space.