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Origin and history

Gray's Jesuit College came into being in 1583, when a first college on Grand Street was built to replace a ruined building. In 1611, a Jesuit mission established in Gray, becoming a permanent residence in 1634. After the Ten Years' War, the Jesuits took over the leadership of the college in 1653, marking the beginning of a major reconstruction phase.

Between 1659 and 1667, the building was completely rebuilt, as evidenced by the date engraved on the main gate, partly financed by local bourgeois Rémi Dujard. An additional wing was added in 1673, followed by the construction of the chapel (first stone in 1678, consecration in 1682). The garden was enlarged in the early eighteenth century after the demolition of the city walls.

The history of the college was marked by upheavals: expulsion of the Jesuits in 1765, closure in 1792, and reopening in 1804. In the 19th century, major works transformed the building: demolition of the right wing in 1880 (replaced by a primary school), elevation of the main building in 1886 with addition of a pediment to the city's weapons, and overall restoration completed in 1889. The 17th century gate, the only preserved vestige, is then re-registered with the inscription "Restauré l ́an 1889".

In the 20th century, the high school extends over the site of the old regular garden, partially erasing the traces of the original college. Today, only the old chapel, classified as a Historical Monument in 1984, remains as a major witness to this educational and religious past.

The college illustrates the influence of Jesuits in Franche-Comté, a region marked by religious conflicts and post-war reconstructions. Its architecture, blending classicism and baroque elements (ogival vaults of the chapel), reflects the educational standards of the Counter-Reform, where colleges served both as tools for formation and Catholic outreach.

The transformations of the 19th and 20th centuries, motivated by modern school needs, have profoundly altered the original structure. However, the preserved inscriptions (portal of 1667, municipal motto "Three times victorious of the flames") recall its Jesuit heritage and its central role in Gray's urban history.

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