Lycée Lalande, Historical high school in Bourg-en-Bresse

Lycée Lalande occupies a site in Bourg-en-Bresse whose first buildings were raised in the 17th century by the Jesuits, including a chapel that remains the town's only Baroque building. An 18th-century portal stands at the entrance, and two newer buildings were added in the first half of the 20th century. The school now enrols about 1,250 students in secondary classes and scientific preparatory courses.

Jesuits founded the college in 1649; after their banishment from France in 1762 it passed through parliamentary college, central school of the Ain department and royal college before becoming an imperial lycée in September 1856 under Napoleon III. It took the name Lalande in 1889. The 18th-century portal was inscribed as a monument historique on 13 March 1950, and the chapel, including the portal and sacristy, was classified on 21 March 1983.

The school is named after Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande, the French astronomer born in Bourg-en-Bresse in 1732. Each 11 November, students and teachers hold a ceremony commemorating the school's role in the Resistance, when pupils and staff were arrested during the Second World War.

The school is an active lycée with about 1,250 students and cannot be visited freely during term time. Its entrance is in Bourg-en-Bresse, near the town centre; the 18th-century portal and the chapel are the elements to look for from outside.

The school keeps a collection of scientific objects, some dating from the 19th century, including old models of coils and batteries. Its art rooms were long housed in the Baroque chapel until the chapel passed to the municipality of Bourg-en-Bresse.