Location: Belgium Wallonia Dinant
Early 17th-century convent on the left bank of the Meuse in Dinant – a plain complex around a cloister, today home to municipal social services.
Interesting facts
- Construction was authorised on 27 April 1613.
- The Capuchins were expelled in 1797.
- The older parts have been a listed monument since 1978.
Why visit
- One of the oldest surviving buildings in the town
- Plain 17th-century convent architecture
The former Capuchin convent stands on the left bank of the Meuse in Dinant, upstream of the Saint-Médard suburb. On 27 April 1613 Ferdinand of Bavaria, Prince-Bishop of Liège, authorised its construction; the Capuchins chose a site outside the town of the time.
The complex forms a square of a church and three two-storey conventual buildings around a courtyard, the cloister. The single-nave church on the north side has three bays, a flat-ended sanctuary and two side chapels. Its plain design reflects Franciscan simplicity; the exterior is considered largely original, while much of the interior was altered in the 19th century.
In 1797 the convent was confiscated as national property and the Capuchins were expelled. It later served as a hospice, a hospital and an orphanage. Today it houses offices of the town’s public centre for social welfare (CPAS). The older parts have been a listed monument since 1978.
History
Construction authorised in 1613 by Prince-Bishop Ferdinand of Bavaria, built in the first half of the 17th century. Confiscated as national property in 1797, then a hospice, a hospital run by the Sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul and later also an orphanage. Today home to Dinant's CPAS. Listed in 1978.
Special features
Four-wing complex of a church and three two-storey conventual buildings around a cloister. Single-nave church with three bays and two side chapels, plain design in the Franciscan spirit.
Map
Opens an external route planner. Please check access and opening times before you set off.
Nearby
Collegiate Church of Our Lady, Dinant
Dinant, Wallonia
0.3 km away
Gothic collegiate church on the Meuse with a distinctive onion-shaped spire against the cliff – Dinant's landmark, with one of the largest church windows in Europe.
Route
Citadel of Dinant
Dinant, Wallonia
0.4 km away
Fortress on the rock above Dinant and the River Meuse – today a museum, also reached by cable car, with views over the town and the river.
Route
La Merveilleuse Cave
Dinant, Wallonia
0.5 km away
Show cave near Dinant, discovered in 1904 during the construction of a light railway – with calcite cascades and an underground river.
Route
Church of Saint George, Leffe
Leffe, Wallonia
1.0 km away
13th-century church in the Leffe district of Dinant on the Meuse – with a Romanesque core and historic flood marks on its portal.
Route
Leffe Abbey
Leffe, Wallonia
1.2 km away
Premonstratensian abbey on the Meuse in Dinant-Leffe, founded in 1152 – the namesake of the well-known abbey beer and still home to a community of canons.
Route
Crèvecœur Castle
Dinant, Wallonia
1.2 km away
Castle ruins on a cliff some 80 metres above the Meuse at Bouvignes – freely accessible and linked to a well-known legend of three ladies.
Route
Sources
Image: Jorge Franganillo · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
