The Lycée Charlemagne is located in the Marais quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, the capital city of France.
Constructed many centuries before it became a lycée, the building originally served as the home of the Order of the Jesuits. The lycée itself was founded by Napoléon Bonaparte and celebrated its in 2004.
The lycée is directly connected to the Collège Charlemagne (formerly known as le petit lycée) which is located directly across from it, on the Rue Charlemagne.
Also the lycée offers two-year courses preparing students for entry to the Grandes écoles, divided into seven classes:
The school is associated with Charlemagne Middle School that is located just opposite it, on Rue Charlemagne, and is alongside the walls of Philippe Auguste, of which only the exterior cladding still exists.
In 1580, Cardinal de Bourbon bought the Duchess of Montmorency Hotel of Rochepot and Damville. He gave it to the Jesuits, who demolished the main building located along the Rue Saint Antoine and replaced it with a chapel dedicated to St. Louis, in 1582.
Between 1627 and 1647, the Jesuits built a building destined to become their home on the grounds of Philippe-Auguste. This home became one of the most famous of the order.It is the home of the confessors of Kings, whose father La Chaise confessors of Louis XIV with Father Michel Le Tellier and renowned preachers such as Bourdaloue or Ménestrier and Father Pierre Cotton, which was that of Henri IV and Louis XIII.
From 1762 to 1767, the buildings were deserted after the expulsion of the Society of Jesus under the ministry of the Duke of Choiseul.
On May 23, 1767 the Génovéfains of Val-des-Écoliers bought the House of the Jesuits for 400,000 livres; the regular canons of the reform of Saint Genevieve left their priory of Saint Catherine of Couture (that fell into ruins) and occupied the ancient Jesuit novitiate, which they called Royal Priory of St. Louis of Couture (or culture).
They rented the large library gallery to the city of Paris. It was established from 1773 until the year 1790, the public library in the city of Paris.