Former Jesuit College

culture and meeting place

Before your very eyes, he sets the imposing brick setting at the edge of town, embroidered with these two grand staircases and harmoniously welded to the chapel of St. Joseph.

Patiently, Penelope, dressed in bronze, eternally watches over this place where the many lives that have animated it still resonate…

Building history

The first owner of this residence was a collector of sizes in Quercy, who built it with great taste. The ambitiousHôtel de Colomb didn’t stop there! It expanded by buying out the surrounding houses and building the Saint-Joseph chapel. For 20,000 livres, the Jesuits acquired the building in 1676. The walls bear witness to the 300 students who occupied its benches from 1701, when it became a place of learning. The college was mainly reserved for the sons of Protestant families, who received a strictly Catholic education.

During the French Revolution, the building became a foundry, producing 358 cannons for the armies of the Republic. Under the Second Empire, the college became a high school for boys, under the auspices of the Bonapartist mayor of the time, Adrien Prax-Paris. Today, the building houses the CIAP, theTourist Office, the Cultural Development Department of the City of Montauban and the dance conservatory.

A few dates to remember

Would you like to find out more?

Visit the CIAP website