Collège des Bernardins

Cistercian monks and young intellectuals from the University of Paris were trained here for several centuries. But times change and after the French Revolution the Collège des Bernardins became in turn a prison, a warehouse, then a fire station and police barracks. It was only in 2001 that the Parisian Diocese bought back this pearl of Gothic architecture, turning it into a place of dialogue, culture and contemplation. The sublime 13th century edifice, just steps from the Boulevard Saint-Germain, was completley renovated and opened its doors to the public in 2008. Contemporary art exhibitions, concerts, performances, debates, conferences, sociology courses and theology courses now take place behind the old stone façade, and the place can again fulfil its pedagogical, social and spiritual vocation.