College Foundation 1555 (≈ 1555)
Concordat with the chapter of Saint-Cerneuf.
1558-1564
Initial construction
Initial construction 1558-1564 (≈ 1561)
Edited by Guillaume Duprat.
1594
First expulsion of Jesuits
First expulsion of Jesuits 1594 (≈ 1594)
Replaced by canons.
1621
Fire and reconstruction
Fire and reconstruction 1621 (≈ 1621)
Major damage followed by work.
1762
Second expulsion of Jesuits
Second expulsion of Jesuits 1762 (≈ 1762)
College given to the diocese.
1886-1963
Preparatory Military School
Preparatory Military School 1886-1963 (≈ 1925)
Training of 11,000 students.
1994
Final closure
Final closure 1994 (≈ 1994)
End of use as a college.
1998
Serious fire
Serious fire 1998 (≈ 1998)
Significant damage to buildings.
2002
Historical Monument
Historical Monument 2002 (≈ 2002)
Total protection of the site.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
The whole college, including the right-of-way of the chapel and interior arrangements (rooms, galleries, grids, carpentry) (Box AK 316): inscription by order of 12 February 2002
Key figures
Guillaume Duprat - Bishop of Clermont
Founder of the college in 1555.
Henri IV - King of France
Order the banning of the Jesuits (1594).
Origin and history
The Collège des Jésuites de Billom, located in Puy-de-Dôme in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, is the first Jesuit college built in France. Founded in 1555 by Guillaume Duprat, bishop of Clermont, it was built between 1558 and 1564 according to a quadrilateral plan typical of Jesuit settlements. The site housed classrooms, a chapel, a theatre, housing, and a dedicated church. The Jesuits were expelled twice, in 1594 (replaced by canons) and definitively in 1762, before the college became a state institution in the 19th century.
Over the centuries, the building served as military barracks (hussards in the 19th century), preparatory school for troop children (1886-1963), and public college until its closure in 1994. A fire in 1998 damaged the site, now under renovation with the support of the Heritage Foundation. The chapel once housed the Typus Religionis, an allegorical painting from the 17th century today preserved at the National Archives in Paris.
Architecturally, the college is distinguished by its interior courtyards, its stone or wooden staircases, and its characteristic vaults (cradle, ridges). Ranked Historic Monument in 2002, it illustrates Billom's educational and military heritage, while embodying the social transformations of the region, from Renaissance to contemporary times.
Its history reflects the religious and political tensions of France: banishment of Jesuits under Henry IV, reconstruction after a fire in 1621, renovations in the 18th and 19th centuries, and successive adaptations to civil or military uses. The current project aims to restore this emblematic heritage, a witness to five centuries of local and national history.
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