Le Dorat’s religious communities

In and after the 17th century, as a result of the Catholic counter Reformation, Le Dorat became home to numerous religious communities. Many were devoted to education, such as the Récollets and the Bénédictines from the Trinity convent, present up until the French Revolution, as well as the Girls of Wisdom community, from the 18th century onward.
In the 19th century, the number of congregations rocketed. The carmelites, a small seminary and a boys’ secondary school run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools opened.
Two religious orders even established their headquarters in Le Dorat: the Sisters of Marie-Joseph, who were prison visitors and the Franciscan Sisters of Notre-Dame du Temple, who opened a retirement home for elderly priests and built a chapel in 1890.
By 1900, these communities represented a quarter of the population of Le Dorat, but most disappeared in the 20th century. Nowadays, the only one left is the Sisters of Marie-Joseph, by the church.