Couvent des Cordelières

The place you are approaching takes its name from the coarse, knotted rope cord that Franciscan friars wore as a belt around their waists. These monks were popularly known as Cordeliers, and they established their home here in the thirteenth century with the help of King Louis the Ninth. While the grand monastery that once occupied this land has largely vanished, the stone refectory where the friars once took their meals has survived for seven centuries. It stands today as a rare piece of medieval architecture in the middle of a bustling university campus.