Roman College

The Roman College (Latin: Collegium Romanum; Italian: Collegio Romano) was a school established by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1551, just 11 years after he founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). It quickly grew to include classes from elementary school through university level and moved to several successive locations to accommodate its burgeoning student population. With the patronage of Pope Gregory XIII, the final seat of the Roman College was built in 1584 near the center of Rome's most historic Pigna district, on what today is called Piazza del Collegio Romano, adding the church of St. Ignatius in 1626, and a renowned observatory in 1787. The college remained at this location for 286 years until the revolutionary Capture of Rome in 1870. In 1873, the remaining philosophical and theological faculties of the Roman College moved to new quarters and formed the Gregorian University, named after the College's patron. Though taken over by the Italian government, the original buildings on a full square block memorialize the early commitment of the Jesuits to education. Currently, its eastern wing houses the headquarters of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture (with entrance on Via del Collegio Romano) and the wing overlooking the square is home to the high school Ennio Quirino Visconti.