College of Navarre

However, we had to wait until the end of the 16th century to see the buildings constructed, as evidenced by - at the corner of Rue Armand-Cambon and Rue Léon-de-Melville - the embedded stones bearing the dates 1597 and 1598. In the meantime, For almost 20 years, classes were given at number 9 on the street, at the home of Pastor Michel Bérauld. A center of Protestant culture - which attracted students from all over Europe - this institution also opened to Catholics when, in 1629, the rebellious Huguenot city signed its surrender to Cardinal Richelieu. The college was then gradually taken over by the Jesuits, even though the two religious communities coexisted until 1659, when the Protestant academy was exiled to Puylaurens, following a new clash between Protestant and Catholic students. The Jesuits remained in the building until 1676, then moved into the private mansion of Michel de Colomb which they had just acquired (the current Ancien Collège). The college of Navarre, for its part, was bought by Jean de Galabert d'Aumont, the king's squire, who made it his private residence. The original layout of the Navarre college is poorly known due to successive transformations over the centuries. Today there remains a vast main courtyard bordered by a remarkable wooden gallery, supported by a colonnade. Opposite, the traces of openings visible on the wall seem to attest that originally, the college extended over part of the current Lefranc-de-Pompignan hotel.

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