SOREZE ABBEY-SCHOOL

About

This Benedictine abbey was founded in 754 at the foot of the Montagne Noire. It owes its fame thanks to the innovative teaching method it practiced from the 18th. The school had several statuses, from the 1680’s seminary to the private high-school when it closed in 1991.

After suffering the vicissitudes of history in the Middle Ages, the monastery was destroyed during the Wars of Religion. It was not until the 1680s that the abbey was rebuilt with the intention of establishing a school. The seminary that opened at that time had to compete with Puylaurens Protestant Academy. After the Revocation of the Edit de Nantes, the school opened as a college for penniless nobility. The school became so popular that a major expansion campaign was undertaken. The school, which reopened under the direction of Dom Fougeras, offered boarding facilities and ultra-modern teaching for its time: à la carte teaching in subjects such as physics, biology, foreign languages, drawing, music, sport, astronomy, geography… Its influence grew to the point where Louis XVI established one of the 12 Royal Military Schools in the Kingdom in this abbey school. New buildings were erected in this beautiful neo-classical architecture, which you can see in rue Saint-Martin or in the main courtyards at the top of rue Lacordaire. Officers from the three army corps (infantry, cavalry and navy) studied there. Yes, even the officers of the Royal Navy, because the school had its own swimming pool (the old fishpond). It is the oldest school swimming pool in Europe. Cavalry officers were also able to perfect their equestrian skills. As a result, horse-riding remained an essential part of Sorèze school until its closure. The monument was saved from being destroyed during the Revolution thanks to François Ferlus, a defrocked monk. The school reopened and continued to enjoy such a high reputation that students from the four corners of the world came to study there. In the mid-19th century, Father Henri Dominique Lacordaire brought the school to its peak, with 400 students enrolled. He pushed for excellence by deciding to recruit teachers who were some of the best in their field, even if they did not come from the clergy. From 1978 onwards, the school was no longer run by monks. At the same time, the school became a mixed school. Unfortunately, maintaining this historical building, water and electricity standards became too expensive. The school was forced to close in 1991. This school hosted many famous French people: military men such as the Caffarelli family, the navigator Lapérouse, the composer Déodat de Séverac, former ministers, television and music stars such as Claude Nougaro, Hugues Aufray, Julien Lepers, Sylvain Augier and scientists such as Igor and Grichka Bogdanov… Discover these thousand stories by visiting Cité de Sorèze.

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