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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The chapel of the Jesuits of Carcassonne was built in the 2nd quarter of the 17th century, in a context where the city, then under marked religious influence, saw its college entrusted to the Jesuits as early as 1623. The bequest of Malecoste, receiver of the sizes, in 1637 allowed to initiate the works of the building, whose unique nave, bordered by a gallery with stands, reflects a characteristic dissymmetric architecture. The false archatures on the Gospel side and the flat bedside engaged in school buildings underline a design adapted to its educational and spiritual use.

The church was blessed in 1666 by the bishop of Mirepoix, marking his functional completion. Its gate, adorned with pilasters and surmounted by a circular pediment, was initially to wear a coat of arms or a cartridge. The nave communicates with the bottom side by six full arches, reproduced on the upper floor. The sanctuary, vaulted with liernes and thirdons, draws a central polygon through the extension of the arêtiers, while the octagonal bell tower (Tour Mirande), integrated with the school buildings, passes from a square plane to an octagon thanks to the tubes of a corner.

Classified as a Historical Monument in 1948, the chapel illustrates the Jesuit heritage in the 17th century Languedoc. Its architecture combines decorative simplicity and structural complexity, as evidenced by the bays in the middle of the tower or the vault of the sanctuary. Today it is a communal property and remains a vestige of religious teaching and the architectural influence of the Counter-Reform in the region.

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