Le cloître des Franciscains à Bethléem. Lettre de l’architecte Jean-Baptiste Guillemot à Melchior de Vogüé

In a letter to Melchior de Vogüe, French Ambassador in Constantinople, Jean- Baptiste Guillemot, an architect, tried to draw the attention of France, which has always claimed to be the patron of the Holy Places, on the poor condition of the Franciscan cloister in Bethlehem. In his letter, now held at the Centre Historique des Archives Nationales (Paris), Guillemot gives an accurate description of the cloister in the years 1870-1875. He also submitted a project for the cloister’s restoration, or rather reconstruction, founded on a complete study of the building and guesses as to its original state. Guillemot’s project did not start before 1948.