The present temple was the former Church of the Recollets that Louis XIII had summoned to La Rochelle after the 1628 siege and authorised to settle in the Saint-Michel room, the first place of public worship for the Rochelais Protestants in 1563.

In 1691 the church was built but was confiscated at the Revolution and sold as national property. In 1793 Sieur Ranson bought it in the name of the city’s heads of Protestant families, who had no place of worship since 1685. It was also used as a meeting room for the Amis de la Constitution – Friends of the Constitution, before being permanently dedicated to Reformed worship in 1798.

During the 19^th century major adjustments were made inside the building, namely installing pews, changing the location of the pulpit, fitting in woodwork, buying an organ…