The royal and military college of Thiron-Gardais nestled in the quaint village of Perche since 1630. Acquired in 2013 by Stéphane Bern, the site offers a certain tranquility to those who come to visit the premises.
The garden, which has become frequented by some regulars, is used for meetings and reunions of relatives who want to enjoy the calm and charm of the small park.
In the village which has become known both for its abbey and for its college, the premises belong to three different entities. The domain of the abbey belongs to the community of municipalities of which several are proposed, and the church is managed by the municipality. The college is owned by Stéphane Bern. It is reborn thanks to its acquisition and then to the restoration wanted by the animator specialized in crowned heads.
The Bern Mission, a welcome and essential help for the monuments of Eure-et-Loir
The college garden was also used for learning botany for students. Photo: Th. Desprez
A place full of history
There are places where history blows, this is one of them. The place steeped in 900 years of history seems to have crossed the centuries with serenity. It’s still…
At the beginning of history, in 1114, Bernard de Tiron, a pious hermit, settled in the parish of Gardais. Supported by the bishop of Chartres and Rotrou as well as by the counts of Perche, he founded the abbey of Sainte-Trinité.
From 1122 it passes under royal protection and the order of Tire will spread to Europe, mainly in the north-west. The order loses its religious discipline and has strayed from its primary purpose after amassing riches, too opulent for a Benedictine abbey. Monks and priests have such a reputation that we find in the Roman de Renart (tale of medieval stories) the expression “fat as a monk of Tiron.
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From the royal college to the royal and military college
Henri de Bourbon-Verneuil, son of King Henry IV, was appointed commendatory abbot at the age of five in 1606. Noting the disorder and decay of the complex, he founded the royal college in 1630 to restore rigor and educate the surrounding nobility.
The entrance to the museum and the royal college. Photo: Th.D.
Almost one hundred and fifty years later, in 1776, the site experienced its most glorious moments. The reputation of the establishment prompted Louis XVI to choose it to become a royal and military college among the other eleven French schools bearing the same title. Students are trained there to prepare for the entrance exam to the Paris Military School.
Closing of the university doors
A decade later, the French Revolution put an end to royal omnipotence. Access to the church was forbidden in 1792, then the college closed definitively the following year, in 1793. The property became private. Etienne Taulé, a former college student and teacher, buys the site. The stones of the abbey are used in particular to build the houses of the village causing the collapse of the church choir.
contemporary rebirth
Following several successions and bequests, André Guillaumin inherited the premises. The botanist and professor at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris (born at the castle of Bois-Méan in Arrou in 1885), resumed the work begun by his father. Until his death in 1974, he planted many exotic species from around the world, some of which are still visible today.
Our long format: At the Royal and Military College of Thiron-Gardais with Stéphane Bern
The acquisition of the castle by Stéphane Bern
In 2005 the entire site was sold to the general council (which has since become a county council), but it is too dilapidated to be restored with public funds. In 2013 the college was bought by the famous presenter for € 350,000 “at the price of a Parisian studio” described Stéphane Bern in 2016. But what should have been a good investment in the beginning becomes “a chasm” for the rehabilitation of the place.
The garden is frequented by visitors and used for its tea room where drinks are ordered inside the orange grove. Photo: Thomas Desprez
The restored garden, by Louis Benech (which became internationally famous after the renovation of the Tuileries Gardens in 1990), still features a ginkgo biloba planted in 1930 and a sequoia, 32 m high and about 230 years old. It was 12m taller before the storm of 1999. The gardener also replanted 1,600 species of flowers and trees, taking care to respect past perspectives. “His mission: ‘to redo everything without changing anything’ is a challenge,” says Marie Hénocq, head of the Royal and Military College of Thiron-Gardais. You have redesigned the kiosk with trees in homage to André Guillaumin.
The heritage of the Eurelian tree revealed
The museum restored last winterThe entrance to the museum and the royal college. Photo: Th.D.
“It also finds the path of the labyrinth traced during the Second Empire. To redesign it, pendants are planted. Stéphane Bern then asks to cut the holly. And Louis Benech to exclaim: “Who decided to cut the holly? », Without expecting the request to come from the owner of the premises. With pedagogy, the gardener explains that holly helps spells grow to the top. “Since then, Stéphane Bern himself says he has studied. He learned by doing this restoration, “says the manager.
Works on the new entrance and museum during the winter of 2022. Photo: L’écho républican archives.
In the college museum, the facilitator wanted to tell the story of the abbey and the creation of the school. “She found the school books, the documents and used them to tell the daily life of the students in this place” describes Marie Hénocq. Thus you can discover the school rhythms, the arithmetic books, the Saint-Benoît rule. The uniform of the cadet gentlemen and their kit to see things at the disposal of the cadets.
Among the archives and accessories that trace the history and days of the students, the kick-off of the thirteenth. th century of the abbot of Thiron, adorned with gold which was borrowed from the Museum of Fine Arts of Chartres.
A part of the museum where students’ daily objects, written documents are exhibited. A video retrospective is also available. Photo: Th. Desprez.
Alongside these objects steeped in history and anecdotes, that of the Marquis Bertrand De Launay. Governor of the Bastille prison, he studied here in Thiron-Gardais and was one of the first victims on 14 July 1789. Another emblematic historical figure almost gave his first lessons in Thiron: Napoleon. History has decided otherwise.
The costume worn by the cadets. Photo: Th.D.
“I am a presenter of programs, Secrets of History, The Favorite Garden of the French, The Favorite Village of the French and The Favorite Home of the French; for me everything is gathered in one place ”, declared the lover of history to L’Echo repubblican in 2014.“ I don’t feel like a people but a smuggler of history. It was necessary to rehabilitate and transmit this history with a coherent whole with the abbey in a region of history one hundred and fifty kilometers from Paris. “
Since then fifty artisans, companions and artisans have followed one another for two and a half years to lead the rescue of this heritage. Among the works, the most impressive, 600 square meters of coverage. “Everything that has been replaced was done according to the artisan techniques of the time” can be learned during the visit.
On 7 and 8 May the Royal and Military College of Stéphane Bern opens to the public in Thiron-Gardais with the Garden Festival
summer activities
Fun. During the summer, at a cost of 10 euros, on Sundays the public could have a picnic in the garden where the meal was delivered. Gardening workshops were also offered where participants could leave with their plant, as a reward for the best college students from a few centuries earlier.
The four storytelling evenings were a success, each sold out with 90 people in attendance.
Night college offers another face. He welcomed visitors during the storytelling evenings. Photo: Camille Damiens
On July 15, Stéphane Bern was also surprised to be present in the audience.
The college will close its doors on 18 September, after the European Heritage Days. A treasure hunt will be offered, to be followed by scanning a QR code. A surprise will be offered for the winner.
Guided tours for groups of over 20 people are possible throughout the year.
Some key dates:
1114: Bernard de Tiron settled in the parish of Gardais and founded the abbey in 1114, perpetuating the rule of Saint-Benoît which regulated monastic life in detail. Eight years later, in 1122, the abbey passed under royal protection.
630: Henri de Bourbon-Verneuil was appointed abbot of Tiron in 1606 at the age of 5. Eager to break the state of decay, Henry IV’s son created the royal college in 1630.
1176: The establishment’s reputation encouraged Louis XVI to select it to become a royal and military college. Title awarded to eleven other schools in France. Students are trained to complement the Paris military school. Five years later, the revolution broke out. The college closed its doors in 1793.
1974: For almost two centuries the heirs of the fief, which has become private, have succeeded one another. Among the most illustrious, Etienne Taullé, a former student and professor at the college, or André Guillaumin, botanist and professor at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, who died in 1974.
2005: The Eure-et-Loir Departmental Council bought the site in 2005 from André Guillaumin’s daughter.
2013:Visited the previous year, Stéphane Bern bought the royal and military college from the Departmental Council in February 2013 for an estimated price of 300,000 euros. Over several years he has invested 4 million euros for the restoration of the entire site.
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Royal and Military College Telephone: 37.02.49.79.54
Thomas Desprez
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