“It's the most beautiful school in France!” The Pierre and Colettes Soulages elementary school inaugurated in the heart of Montpellier

Les parents ont découvert l'école en accompagnant leurs enfants, ce lundi matin. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

Located opposite Saint-Pierre Cathedral, the school opened its first school year this Monday, after twenty-eight months of work. The result was admired by staff and parents.

“It's the most beautiful school in France!” Located next to Saint-Pierre Cathedral, in the heart of Écusson, the Pierre and Colette Soulages school was inaugurated this Monday, September 2, the first day of the school year.

This nine-classroom primary school is housed in the former Ursuline Convent, created in 1679, transformed into a Normal School in 1832, and finally into a Music Conservatory over the last three decades.

28 months of work were necessary for the twenty or so companies involved in this particularly demanding project. The result is sumptuous, like the old chapel converted into an activity room, with its restored stained glass windows.

“Five elementary classes and four nursery schools”

The school is made up of five elementary classes, with a library documentation center, and four nursery classes with a dormitory and library. They are completed by administrative premises, a school restaurant and spaces dedicated to reception.

"We want the Écusson de Montpellier to not just be an Airbnb location, but a place to live with schools and daycare centers", said Mayor Michaël Delafosse. He confided his "immense pride in inaugurating a school."

He recalled that Pierre and Colette Soulages had met in Montpellier, at the School of Fine Arts which is now the Maison des Relations internationales, during the Occupation.

The plaque indicating the name of the school specifies that the couple was the author of an exceptional donation to the Musée Fabre.