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Origin and history

The Jesuit convent of Aix-en-Provence, also known as the Royal Bourbon College, found its origins in the desire of the consuls of Aix to modernise teaching as early as 1558. After several refusals by the Jesuits and complex negotiations, a contract was finally signed in 1593 to establish a college under the name of Saint-Michel. The work began with municipal funding, but the Jesuits were temporarily banned after the attack by Jean Châtel against Henri IV in 1594, before being recalled in 1605.

In 1603 Henry IV authorized the college to bear the name Royal-Bourbon and bound it to the new University of Aix. In 1621 Louis XIII formalized the Jesuits' installation in the college by letters patent, marking the beginning of their pedagogical direction. The construction of the present church, launched in 1681, was partially completed in 1698, with an unfinished façade and a vault completed between 1690 and 1698. The building houses major works such as La Visitation and L'Annunciation painted by Pierre Puget in 1658.

The church is distinguished by a mural anamorphosis unique in France, dating from the 18th century and situated in the attic. This work, measuring nearly eight meters, represents from face to face a port city (probably Lisbon) and, by bias, Saint-Pierre at the Jardin des Oliviers thanks to an optical effect. The college, confiscated after the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1762, became a private high school under the name Ensemble Scolaire du Sacré-Coeur in 1962, while retaining its chapel classified as a historical monument since 1982.

The chapel, originally dedicated to Saint-Louis, replaces a first chapel destroyed during the construction of the present church. The latter's plans, although not attributed with certainty, are executed by the Vallon brothers (stone tailors) and Claude Lieutaud (mason). The first-order capitals, spread but not finished, and the absence of second-order capitals testify to the budgetary constraints that have interrupted the work.

The convent illustrates the importance of Jesuits in Provencal education in the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as the political and religious tensions of the time. Its architecture, combining classicism and incompleteness, reflects both the ambition of the sponsors and the financial limits of the city. Today, the site combines historical heritage and educational function, perpetuating an educational vocation of more than four centuries old.

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