Collège des Bernardins

The Collège des Bernardins is identifiable by the vast, vaulted stone cellar that sits beneath its street-level courtyard. Built in the thirteenth century, this structure served as a training ground for Cistercian monks who traveled from across Europe to study theology at the University of Paris. During the French Revolution, the state seized the building, turning it into a prison and then a fire department warehouse. Workers once discovered a hidden medieval manuscript tucked behind a stone, left behind by a forgotten student.