The Convent and Academy of the Visitation, properly known today as the Visitation Monastery, is a historic complex of

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

religious buildings and a small cemetery in Mobile,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The buildings and grounds were documented by the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in 1937. They were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on April 24, 1992 as a part of

Historic Roman Catholic Properties in Mobile Multiple Property Submission The Historic Roman Catholic Properties in Mobile Multiple Property Submission is a multiple property submission of Roman Catholic properties in Mobile, Alabama, that were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places. The submissio ...

. It, along with the Convent of Mercy, is one of two surviving historic convent complexes in Mobile.

History

The Convent of the Visitation was founded by Bishop

Michael Portier Michael Portier (September 7, 1795, Montbrison, France – May 14, 1859, Mobile, Alabama) was an American Catholic bishop who served as the first Bishop of Mobile from 1829 until his death in 1859. Portier emigrated from France in 1817, a ...

, the first bishop of Mobile. Portier wished to found a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

for the

Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary The Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (), abbreviated VSM and also known as the Visitandines, is a Catholic Church, Catholic religious order of Pontifical Right for women. Members of the order are also known as the Salesian Sisters (not to be ...

so that they could provide education to girls in his diocese, due to a lack of schools. He obtained permission from

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

for that purpose and in 1832 the first five sisters arrived from Georgetown. The academy taught 40 students the first year and enrollment continued to increase up until a fire in May 1854 destroyed the buildings. Rebuilding of the convent commenced one month after the fire with a new quadrangle of buildings that form the core of the convent to the present day. Architect James Henry Hutchisson designed these buildings in a

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...

style. They were completed in 1855. The academy had grown to include a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

and

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

by the early 1900s. They were housed in a three-story school building on the west side of the quadrangle, built in 1900. Both had closed by 1952 and the former school building was demolished in 1953. The sisters then began a retreat house. The retreat continues into the present, hosting retreat groups for men, women, and adolescents, as well as a variety of other events. Numerous major restoration efforts were undertaken from 1985 to 1991. The interiors of Sacred Heart Chapel were completely restored beginning in 1998 with rededication late in 1999.

Description

The major buildings include the quadrangle of

Revival style buildings completed in 1855, in addition to several later structures. The

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

Sacred Heart Chapel was completed on the grounds in 1895. A priest's house for visiting clerics was completed in 1899, in a stylistic blending of the Romanesque Revival and

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

styles. The grounds of the convent are enclosed with high brick walls, dating to the 1850s. In addition to the outer wall, inner walls separate the public and private areas of the main complex and also enclose a private cemetery for the Order of the Visitation. The graves are marked by simple white crosses.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Mobile, Alabama Historic districts in Mobile, Alabama Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Religious organizations established in 1832 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile Romanesque Revival architecture in Alabama Renaissance Revival architecture in Alabama 1832 establishments in Alabama Roman Catholic churches in Mobile, Alabama Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama