Journées du Patrimoine 2025 in Saint-Denis: the Maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur (93)

Would you like to discover an unsuspected part of Saint-Denis? During the Journées du Patrimoine 2025 , the Maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur opens its doors to you on Saturday September 20 and Sunday September 21, 2025. Created by Napoleon, the aim of these houses is to provide an education for the daughters and granddaughters of Legion of Honor recipients. This very special school assures that it aims to give its pupils"a dignified and independent existence" based on Honor and Patrie.

Often overlooked, this place is closely linked to the Palais de la Légion d' honneur in Paris. The House of Education is housed in the former royal abbey of Saint-Denis, founded in the mid-7th century under the reign of Queen Bathilde, wife of King Clovis II, to house various religious communities. The abbey was completely rebuilt in the 13th century, retaining its medieval architecture until the early 18th century. During the French Revolution, the abbey became a hospital, then an educational institution in 1809.

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Listed as a historic monument in 1927, the school now welcomes 500 girls each year for boarding at the lycée, hypokhâgne-khâgne and BTS in international commerce, where they receive a top-quality education under the authority of the Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor. Discover this world on guided tours during the Heritage Days!

The Journées du Patrimoine 2025 program at the Maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur in Saint-Denis, France

• From royal abbey to Legion of Honor training center
  Saturday, September 20, 2025 - 11:00 ⤏ 12:30, 14:30 ⤏ 16:00, 16:00 ⤏ 17:30 | Sunday, September 21, 2025 - 11:00 ⤏ 12:30, 14:30 ⤏ 16:00, 16:00 ⤏ 17:30
  

  Since 1809, the former royal abbey of Saint-Denis in France, completely rebuilt in the 18th century, has been home to one of the Legion of Honor's Maisons d'Education, a boarding school for young girls founded by Napoleon I and attached to the order's Grand Chancellery.

  Discover the courtyard of honor and the abbey buildings, splendors of 18th-century architecture, the square cloister with its monumental staircases, the garden, the chapel and the refectory.

  
  
  

Long live JEP in the 93!