The Collège of Bernardins, or Collège Saint-Bernard, located no 20, rue de Poissy in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, is a former Cistercian college of the historic University of Paris. Founded by Stephen of Lexington, abbot of Clairvaux, and built from 1248 with the encouragement of Pope Innocent IV, it served until the French Revolution as the residence for the Cistercian monks, students at the University of Paris.
After an overall renovation completed in September 2008, it is now a place for meetings, dialogues, training and culture, offering a rich program of public conferences and symposia, exhibitions, concerts, activities for young people and a theological and biblical studies center. Since 2009, it houses the Académie catholique de France.
It has been the subject of a classification for French historical monuments since 10 February 1871.
At the heart of the Latin Quarter , the Collège des Bernardins is one of the hugest and oldest Parisian medieval buildings.
During the events organized by the College des Bernardins, you can admire the rooms open to all as the nave and the former sacristy .
Formerly monks living room, the nave, 70 meters long , is an architectural wonder mixing seriousness and refinement. It was in olden days the classroom , the canteen and the kitchen of the monks. The sacristy next door, room which houses contemporary art exhibitions, is a stately Gothic style hall built in the 14th century . It once connected the Church, destroyed because never done, to the Collège des Bernardins.
