Recollects Convent (Versailles) Recollects Convent (Versailles) The Recollects Convent was built originally in 1684 at the Palace of Versailles, France by order of Louis XIV as a house for the religious order of Recollects - a reform branch of the Franciscans created in 16th century in France, Germany, and Holland. After the order was suppressed during the French Revolution, the building was converted into a prison, and then later in the 19th century was used by the French army. Currently occupied by the French Ministry of Defense, the convent is only open to visitors during certain public events, such as Le Mois Molière
History of the Palace of Versailles XIV's; in a word, it is having given to this magnificent book that is called French history this magnificent binding that is called Versailles" (Victor Hugo). Later, Balzac characterised the effort in less laudatory terms as the “hospital of the glories of France”. The southern wing (Aile du Midi) was given over to the Galerie des Batailles (Hall of Battles), which necessitated the demolition of most of the apartments of the Princes of the Blood who lived in this part of the palace during the Ancien Régime. The Galerie des Batailles was modeled on the Grande Galerie of the Louvre