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In the heights of the Perche region, the Petite Cité de Caractère of Mortagne-au-Perche is home to a wealth of treasures. From the church of Our Lady to the crypt of the collegiate church of Toussaint, via the 12th-century Porte Saint-Denis, visitors can discover a remarkable heritage, the jewel in the crown of which is the chapel and cloister of Saint-François.

At their request, Marguerite de Lorraine (1463-1521) offered the sisters of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, whom she had taken in 1499 from the Hôtel-Dieu (Hospital) in Mortagne-au-Perche to care for the sick, a convent where they could care for the needy and cloister themselves.

In 1505, she began construction of convent buildings at the gates of the town, on a field called “La Saingle” or “Les Javelots” bought by her adviser Jean Gouevrot, on which stood the sinister pitchforks erected for the execution of criminals. From 1506, the sisters settled here to follow the rule of the Order of Poor Clares.

One of his trusted ladies, Madame de Montboisier, supervised the work, and in 1515, the chapel adjoining the cloister was consecrated under the patronage of St Francis.

Their charitable work ceased when the abbey of Saint Claire became a national property. However, in 1800, this complex of buildings, which had not suffered any major damage, was converted into a hospital, which was taken over by the Augustinian nuns who had previously worked at the Hôtel-Dieu in Mortagne-au-Perche.

Today, this hospital-hospice is of great architectural and pictorial interest: the chapel and cloister have not undergone any major alterations since the 16th century, and the 17th-century alterations have not altered the sober appearance of the buildings.

What's more, thanks to generous donors, the interior of the chapel, which had been stripped bare during the Revolution, was restored and enriched with polychrome decoration in the century that followed.

The cloister was listed as a Historic Monument on 22 June 1920. The chapel was added to the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments on 11 June 1986.

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