MONACO, 2010, the centenary of the Lycee Albert Ier, Scott 2608
The Convent of the Visitation was founded in the late seventeenth century by Charlotte de Gramont, wife of Prince Louis I. It was later preempted as a military barracks until the departure of the Sardinian forces in 1860. Italian Jesuits, ejected from Piedmont, were invited to Monaco by Prince Charles III to set up a college of higher education. They began by opening a novitiate in January 1862 in the now restored Convent of the Visitation. In October 1871 they opened there an Italian college which Monegasque children were able to attend freely as day pupils. They also founded an apostolic school, a sort of mini-seminary, with pupils going to classes at the College of the Visitation. In June 1902 the Jesuits and their Italian pupils went back to Italy. But from the beginning of the 1897/98 school year, French classes were given by Jesuits from the province of Lyon, who now supplanted the Italians. In 1910/1911, the French Jesuits were themselves replaced by secular teachers, the college was renamed the Albert I School, and was set up in accordance with the model used for all secondary education establishments.