A convent of strict observance of the Order of
the Frères Prêcheurs, it was founded by Father
Sébastien Michaelis in 1611-1613. Closed in
1792, it gave its name to the famous Jacobin
club which had appropriated it as a meeting
place. Located on the present site of the
Saint-Honoré market, it was destroyed in
1809. During the restoration of the
Dominican order by Brother Henri
Lacordaire, a convent was built at 222 rue du
Faubourg-Saint-Honoré under the name of
Convent of the Holy Sacrament. It regained
its former title, convent of the Annunciation,
in 1952. The neo-Romanesque church was
built between 1877 and 1897 by architect
Paul Marbeau.
The instrument was made by Merklin in 1879 and
installed at the Albert the Great Hall and
inaugurated by Gigout and Guilmant. When the
Dominicans were expelled, the church took the
name of Albert the Great Hall where Gigout
taught.
In 1894, the organ was equipped with a new
buffet, offered by a generous donor. The
instrument was awarded at the 1900 Exhibition-
Universal. Later, the stoplist was changed slightly
by the house Cavaillé-Coll-Pleyel.
Between 1953 and 1956, the titular organist at the
time Xavier Guerner made a series of
transformations with the help of Chéron in order
to adapt the stoplist to the neo-classical style, in
vogue at the time.
In 1985, a restoration/reconstruction was done by
Xavier Silbermann of Thonon-les-Bains, with a re-
harmonization in the neo-Baroque style.
In 2020, works were done to return to a more
romantic aesthetic by Sébastien Braillon (Illfurth,
68). He changed the reeds of the Great and the
Pedal to reeds according to Bertounèche's model
and replaced a Voix Céleste on the Swell.
Photos : Victor Weller