Accueil - Site musée des beaux arts de Lyon

In 1659, under Louis XIV, the abbess Anne de Chaulnes obtained the necessary funds to construct the Royal Abbey. Royers de la Valfenière, an architect from Avignon, designed an imposing, Italian-inspired building composed of four wings around a cloister. Work was finished in 1685 under the direction of the abbess Antoinette de Chaulnes, Anne's sister.

Around thirty nuns, who were mostly of high aristocratic descent, lived there under the authority of the abbess. In 1730, the abbey was home to some sixty Benedictine nuns, and thirty-two were living there in 1792, when they were expelled. Decorated with beautiful pink marble columns, the private prayer chapel remains as a vestige of their living quarters. It now houses the Greek vase collection. In the 18th century, the abbey was among the wealthiest in France, in particular because of revenue obtained from store rentals on the ground level.