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Historic monument · Paris 14e Arrondissement, Paris
Abbaye de Port-Royal
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
It was established in 1566. It was built in the baroque architecture style. It carries the monument historique inscrit heritage designation.
Port-Royal Abbey is the former Parisian abbey associated with the Cistercian nuns of Port-Royal-des-Champs and the Jansenist movement. The community established its Paris house in 1625–1626 after Angélique Arnauld acquired the Hôtel de Clagny in the Faubourg Saint-Jacques. The abbey’s church was blessed in 1648, while the cloister was built between 1652 and 1655. Port-Royal became an important religious and intellectual centre, linked to figures including Angélique Arnauld and Blaise Pascal. The community faced sustained opposition from church and royal authorities; the Paris abbey was dissolved in 1709, and the convent later became the Port-Libre prison during the French Revolution. Its buildings subsequently served medical purposes. Today, the surviving chapel, nuns’ choir, cloister, chapter house and parts of the surrounding buildings are preserved within the Cochin hospital complex. The French Ministry of Culture lists the former abbey as a partially protected historic monument, with protections covering the cloister, chapel, choir, chapter house and administrative pavilion. The site lies on boulevard de Port-Royal in Paris’s 14th arrondissement and should not be confused with Port-Royal-des-Champs in the Chevreuse valley.
Checked 2026-09-02
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Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
