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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The former presbytery of Laguiole, located in the department of Aveyron in the Occitan region, is a building representative of the 15th century buildings. Originally a small seminar founded by the parish priest François Cros and Vacquier, Prior of Terrisse, he welcomed up to eighty young people destined for the priesthood. Its walls, composed of local granite and basalt, also housed a classified historial cross, adorned with a Virgin to the Child and a Crucifixion.

The seminary evolved into an ecclesiastical college, forming many priests for the diocese of Rodez, before becoming a place of retirement for clergy under episcopal or royal sanction. After the Revolution, the building lost its religious vocation and was partially transformed into a hospice. Two inscriptions to historical monuments, in 1928 for the cross and in 1944 for the facade and roof, today protect this heritage.

The gate, the two-storey windows and the corbelled turret on the Rue du Couvent illustrate medieval rouergate architecture. The cross in corbellation, placed at the corner of the street and the Place du Couvent, remains a remarkable element, bearing witness to piety and local craftsmanship. Claude Debertier, superior of the seminary before becoming constitutional bishop of Aveyron in 1791, also marked his history.

The will of François Cros in 1702 and the letters patent of 1714 formalized the foundation of the seminary, emphasizing its educational and religious role in the region. The disappearance of the seminary at the Revolution marked a turning point, but the building retained its heritage importance, symbolizing the spiritual and architectural heritage of Laguiole.

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