Lycée Fesch

The Lycée Fesch, in Ajaccio

The Lycée Fesch is an immense yellow building of the Cours Grandval, a former house of the Jesuits become a college then a lycée, at the threshold of the district of the foreigners of Ajaccio. The Ajaccio audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this establishment rich in mosaics and fine furniture, and the fine ensemble of resort dwellings that surround it.

From the house of the Jesuits to the lycée of the Cours Grandval

This immense yellow building that you walk along now is the Lycée Fesch. In 1805, an imperial decree ceded this former house of the Jesuits to the town, which transformed it into a college; the establishment became a lycée in 1942. It is a fine building, and the pupils are very lucky to study thus surrounded by mosaics, paintings and fine furniture, heritage of the long history of the place. The lycée stands on the Cours Grandval, which marks the entrance of the district of the foreigners. From the middle of the nineteenth century, numerous foreign tourists indeed came to settle for resort in Ajaccio, attracted by the gentleness of the climate. The Cours Grandval was then lined with fine dwellings and private mansions, which still compose today an elegant ensemble. You glimpse for example, on the right, behind its fine garden, the Grand Hôtel, become the seat of the territorial collectivity of Corsica. This district, born from the winter craze of the aristocracy for the island, keeps the old-fashioned charm of this Mediterranean Belle Époque. With its architecture and its verdant setting, the Lycée Fesch is one of the fine buildings of this walk. A former Jesuit college and a great lycée, the Lycée Fesch is a fine stop of the discovery of Ajaccio.

What to see

Here you discover the immense yellow building of the Cours Grandval, a former house of the Jesuits ceded to the town in 1805 and become a college then a lycée in 1942, rich in mosaics, paintings and fine furniture; it marks the entrance of the district of the foreigners, lined with fine resort dwellings, including the neighbouring Grand Hôtel, today the seat of the collectivity of Corsica. The Lycée Fesch is a fine building of Ajaccio. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Lycée Fesch lies on the Cours Grandval, at the entrance of the district of the foreigners of Ajaccio, reachable on foot. It is a school establishment in activity whose façade you admire from the cours, without a visit; the surrounding district, with its resort dwellings, is discovered freely. You walk along it during a stroll.

What is the history of the Lycée Fesch in Ajaccio?

It is a former house of the Jesuits, ceded to the town by an imperial decree in 1805, transformed into a college then become a lycée in 1942; this fine yellow building, rich in mosaics and fine furniture, stands on the Cours Grandval, at the entrance of the district of the foreigners, lined with fine resort dwellings including the neighbouring Grand Hôtel.

Where is the Lycée Fesch in Ajaccio?

On the Cours Grandval, at the entrance of the district of the foreigners of Ajaccio, in Corsica.