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Origin and history

The College of Oratorians of Condom, located in Gers, is an educational institution founded in 1586. Its buildings, organized around a quadrilateral, date mainly from 1628 and 1724-1729, with a chapel erected in 1651. The site also includes older remains (1488), such as a turret and two facades, evidence of the first installation before its expansion. The entrance door, decorated with pilasters and a triangular pediment, gives access to a stone staircase, a remarkable architectural element.

At the Revolution, the college was transformed into a prison before returning to its educational vocation in 1807. The facades and roofs delimiting the inner courtyard (with the exception of the old chapel), as well as the gates of the streets Jean-Jaurès and Saint-Exupéry, have been protected since 1988. These buildings reflect the educational and architectural evolution of religious colleges between the 15th and 18th centuries.

The monument also illustrates the adaptation of educational spaces to political upheavals: its conversion into a revolutionary prison and its reopening under the Empire testify to its anchoring in local history. Today owned by the municipality of Condom, it retains traces of its multiple uses, from classrooms to ephemeral prison cells.

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