Grand'Rue

During the 14th century, a convent of Benedictine nuns took over the former Templar site. Installed until then in the "solitude of Saint-Marcel", Pope John XXII gave them authorization in 1327, annexing to the convent the hospital of the hamlet of "Velorgues". Some new buildings were constructed, including a chapel, from 1663 onwards, according to the plans of Esprit Grangier. Jean-Baptiste de Sade, then bishop of the city, asked for the opening of the chapel on the main street of Cavaillon. The chapel was not completed until 1719. The other conventual buildings were the work of the Avignon architect Jean-Baptiste Franque. The Benedictine sisters remained in this convent until 1792. The chapel then changed function several times: after becoming a warehouse, then a barracks, it was used in the 19th century as a relief chapel for the sisters of Notre-Dame. The chapel is registered as a historical monument since December 13, 1948. The nave of the chapel is composed of four bays, topped by a high plaster dome decorated with false windows. The facade, a frieze of triglyphs and metopes decorated with bucrania, is surmounted by a large pediment framing a wall-belfry. The main door is carved in wood, with cherubs and the profile of Saint Benedict.