The wine cellars of the Minimes Monastery
The three vaulted cellars, which today house the Museum restaurant, were used in the 16th and 17th centuries by the Friars of Passy Monastery for storing their wine.The information panels in the corridor leading to the Museum recall the history of this Monastery, which was built by the mendicant Friars in the Minimes Order founded in 1472 by François Martorille (1436-1507) who was canonised as Saint François de Paule. This Calabrian hermit, known to be a thaumaturge, was summomed to Plessis-les-Tours on the Loire by King Louis XI in 1475 and was allowed to expand his order in France.Construction of the Monastery began in 1493 and was encouraged and enriched by Queen Anne de Bretagne. Built along today's Beethoven Road, the Monastery was surrounded by gardens and terraces going downto the Seine and orchards and vines on the hillside.From these vines, whose existence is evoked today by surrounding street names such as ‘rue Vineuse' (Winy Road) and the ‘rue des Vignes' (Vineyard Road), the Friars used to produce a light red wine which KingLouis XIII liked to drink on his return from hunting in the Bois de Boulogne.
The wine cellars of the Minimes Monastery
The Monastery was disused during the Revolution and its buildings destroyed.