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Origin and history

The Pélegri College of Cahors, now known as the Gambetta College, finds its origins in the Jesuit installation in Cahors in the early 17th century. Founded in 1604 by letters patent of Henry IV, it succeeds the 14th century Collège Saint-Michel and the Collège du Quercy. The Jesuits completely rebuilt the buildings after 1627, including a chapel and a 34-metre tower, built in 1676 by architect Antoine Chassagnard. The chapel, built on the site of an old chapel of Saint Michael of the Poor, has a vaulted nave and a five-sided choir, decorated with murals representing Christian virtues.

In 1762, the Toulouse Parliament prohibited the Jesuits from teaching, and the college became Collège Royal in 1765 before declining during the Revolution. In 1796, he was transformed into a Central Lot School, then a high school in 1803 thanks to the financial assistance of Joachim Murat (60,000 francs). The high school, successively Imperial and Royal according to the regimes, was renamed Gambetta High School in 1888 in tribute to Léon Gambetta, a native of Cahors. The tower-clocher, listed as a historic monument in 1891, and the chapel (registered in 2016) bear witness to this Jesuit and educational past.

The buildings underwent major changes in the 19th century: the former neighbouring convents, like that of the Cordeliers, were demolished from 1895 to give way to new school buildings, designed by the departmental architect Jean Gabriel Achille Rodolosse. In 1974, Gambetta High School became a mixed college, marking the end of its history as a higher secondary school. The tower, characteristic of the regional brick bell towers, and the interior decorations of the chapel (angels, crowns of flowers) recall the artistic and religious heritage of the Jesuits.

The site also maintains a hall of declamation, inscribed with the chapel in 2016, illustrating the importance attached to rhetoric in Jesuit teaching. The murals on the north side, representing Christ in majesty surrounded by cardinal virtues, as well as the arches in the middle of the wall decorated with bosses, reflect the Baroque influence of the time. Today owned by the municipality, Gambetta College remains an emblematic place in the educational and architectural history of Cahors.

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