Churches,
Cloisters and Monasteries
Numerous convents opened through the centuries around
the tomb and the church of Saint Martha.The large
number proved the importance of the cult of Saint
Martha.
The first to arrive in the 13th century in
Tarascon were the Benedictines in 1230, until they
were suppressed in 1252 by Pope Clement VII, the Cordeliers
in 1250, the Dominicans in 1256 and the Benedictines
in 1358. The Templars had arrived much earlier (11th
century), at a short distance from the Priory of Saint
Nicolas consecrated in 1096 by Pope Urban II. After
they were suppressed in 1310, they were replaced by
the Triniataires in 1330.
Other Orders came to this small town on the banks
of the Rhône, the Sisters of the Visitation
in 1641, the Doctrinaires in 1640, the Augustins in
1650, the Franciscans in 1650, the Capucins in 1614,
the Ursulines in 1638, the Observantins in 1632, the
Sisters of Our Lady of Refuge in 1677.
Around these religious premises, housing was built,
so that in 1638, new ramparts were built to contain
all this, with the massive towers of the Condamine
Gate, which can still be seen today.
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