Basilique de la Visitation

Built between 1922 and 1930, the Basilique de la Visitation is the chapel at the Visitation monastery and the place housing the tombs of Francois de Sales (1567-1622) and Jeanne de Chantal (1572-1641), co-founders of the religious order.

Since the early 1930s, the soaring belltower of the Basilique de la Visitation has drawn attention to the Visitation monastery by its side.
Building was started in 1909, with the monastery accommodating the Visitation nuns from 1911 onwards.

A Prix de Rome architect
Completed in the early 1930s, the church was built following a large funding campaign and a national competition which enabled the second Grand Prix de Rome architect Alfred-Henri Recoura (1864-1940) to be selected. He proposed a fairly free Neo-Roman style.

An engineering firm specialising in reinforced concrete for the belltower and porch
Underneath its stone cladding, the 72 m high belltower conceals a reinforced concrete structure.The architect called in Hennebique, the leading company at the time in reinforced concrete buildings.

The interior
The interior décor contrasts with the simplicity of the exterior. The nave columns are made of blue Savoy marble and the apse mosaic of enamelling from Venice and Briare. The stained glass windows tell the story of the founding Saints of the Visitation Order.