The convent was several times destroyed by fire.
CLOISTER, HÔPITAL-GÉNÉRAL
Henry IV. made it his headquarters when he besieged Provins in 1592, and he narrowly escaped death by a cannon-ball, which killed several of his officers.
In 1748 Louis XV. turned the convent into a "Hôpital-Général." To-day it is a home for old people and orphan children, managed by nuns, who act as guides to tourists desirous of visiting the establishment.
The galleries of the cloisters, dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, are interesting as showing specimens of very fine timber-work. The foliage of the capitals of the pillars is also to be remarked (see opposite photograph).
MONUMENT OF THIBAUT'S HEART
In the old chapter-room some handsome vaulting is still to be seen.
In the centre of the chapel is a little stone monument, of the thirteenth century (view opposite), which contains the heart of Thibaut, the founder of the monastery; that of his wife, Isabel of France, daughter of St. Louis; and that of her son. It consists of a carved and gilded metal cover surmounting six panels, each one containing, under a canopy, a monk reading a book.