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Origin and history

The College of Foix, founded in 1457 by Cardinal Pierre de Foix, is a former college of the University of Toulouse intended to accommodate 25 scholarship students, including four priests, from the territories of the house of Foix. It is located in the Arnaud-Bernard district, near the convent of Cordeliers, and offers a study setting with a rich library, including works by Pope Benedict XIII. The medieval style building includes a courtyard surrounded by galleries, a chapel dedicated to St Jerome, and rooms for students and staff. Its construction, entrusted to the master mason Jean Constantin, began in 1450 with the acquisition of existing houses.

In 1463, the college suffered minor damage during the Great Fire of Toulouse, then was remodeled in the 17th and 18th centuries, with the addition of mirandes and a four-slope roof. Spared during the abolition of the Toulouse colleges in 1551, he hardly survived until the French Revolution, where it was closed in 1790. His buildings were then sold, and in 1817 Canon Maurice Garrigou bought them back to install the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre-Dame de la Compassion, which welcomed students there. The original chapel was destroyed in 1850 when Romiguières Street was aligned, but the still active student residence remains the oldest in Europe.

The College of Foix is a rare testimony of medieval university architecture in Toulouse, alongside the colleges of the Esquile, Périgord and Saint-Raymond. Its main body, inscribed in historical monuments in 1925, then extended in 2003 to all buildings, combines bricks and cylindrical turrets. The library, originally located on the first floor, was transformed into a chapel in the 19th century. Cardinal Pierre de Foix, founder of the college, also built a personal dwelling. Today, the site combines historical heritage and religious life, perpetuating its educational vocation for nearly six centuries.

The college is part of a dynamic Toulouse university context from the Middle Ages, with many colleges founded between the 13th and 16th centuries, such as those of Saint-Raymond (1233) or Périgord (1360). These institutions, often linked to charities, offered accommodation and resources to students, while courses were provided in the city's faculties. The College of Foix is distinguished by its longevity and continuous adaptation, moving from a medieval accommodation to a modern student residence, while maintaining its original architecture.

The architectural changes reflect the changes in its use: in the 17th century, Mirandas were added, and in the 19th century, the religious congregation rearranged the ground floor in chapel. Despite the destruction of the chapel of Saint-Jérôme in 1850, the site preserves medieval elements, such as broken arched galleries and door windows. The college thus illustrates the transition between the Middle Ages and modern times, while remaining a symbol of Toulouse's educational and religious history.

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