College of Juilly

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The College of Juilly (French: Collège de Juilly — in modern French, collège means high school and not college) is a Catholic private teaching establishment located on the commune of Juilly, in Seine-et-Marne (France). Directed by the Oratorians, it was created in 1637 by the congregationists.

According to the legend, Saint Geneviève stopped in the village of Juilly in 470, and a water source suddenly emerged where she prayed. The spot quickly became a pilgrimage place, and the College was built around it. An abbey established itself there during the 12th century, while Blanche of Castile, the mother of Saint-Louis, decided in the 13th century to establish there an orphanage which hosted the children of those knights killed during the Crusades. Joan of Arc might have sojourned there while coming back from Orleans.

The monks quit the abbey in 1637 and handed it out to the Oratorians, who created an internship for the education of the French nobility. The abbey then became a Royal Academy, and retains to this day the three fleur-de-lys on its arm. The Juilly College also served many times as a war hospital.

It host a beautiful library notably composed of a reproduction of the United States Declaration of Independence, which was offered to La Fayette, as well as Diderot's original Encyclopédie.