Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Massillon High School originated in the creation of a seminary in 1733, first installed in Saint-Ferréol Priory, then transferred Trudaine Boulevard. After the Revolution, the small seminary settled in the former convent of Bernardines, founded in 1658 and located on Bansac Street in Clermont-Ferrand. The conventual spaces were renovated: the capitular room became a refectory, the chapel was transformed into a kitchen, and extensions were added, including a new chapel decorated with stained glass windows of Thibaud (1851) depicting scenes of Christ's life.

In the 20th century, especially in the 1930s, the high school was the subject of important extension and decoration work. In 1935, painter Louis Dussour painted murals for the chapel of the master's degree and the entrance hall. The party hall was decorated with a painting on plywood signed by M. Nicaud and Louise Cottin, illustrating regional monuments. These decorative elements, as well as the facades and roofs overlooking the court of honour, were protected by an inscription in the Historical Monuments in 1992.

The school's spatial organisation revolves around a square playground, inherited from the original Conventual structure. The buildings, owned by an association, thus combine religious and educational heritage, testifying to architectural and functional transformations over nearly three centuries. Preservation of stained glass, woodwork and wall paintings is a remarkable example of the adaptation of a historic building to modern school use.

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