An exemplary hospital Without interruption from the 15th to the 20th century, the Sisters of Beaune’s Hôtel-Dieu welcomed and cared for several generations of sick people. This hospital quickly acquired a great reputation not only among the poor, but also among the nobility and the bourgeoisie. Donations from the latter made it possible to enlarge and embellish the hospital by creating new wards and bringing in works of art. Thus, the Hôtel-Dieu has kept its reputation as a Palace for the Poor. From 1971 onwards, its medical functions were transferred to a modern hospital, with the exception of an old people's home. GREAT HALL OF THE POOR The heart of the Hôtel-Dieu Inaugurated on 31 December 1451, the Great A PALACE FOR THE "POOR" Hall of the Poor has retained its original A charitable organization dimensions (50 m long, 14 m wide, 16 m Perfectly preserved since the end of the high). This sick room had 30 beds, 15 on each Middle Ages, the Hospices de Beaune's side. The center was occupied by tables and Hôtel-Dieu was built in 1443 by Nicolas benches so that the poor and sick could take Rolin, Chancellor of the Duke of Burgundy their meals served, like lords, in pewter dishes Philippe le Bon. and not wooden ones. Large chests allowed At the end of the Hundred Years' War, Beaune the sisters to store the clothes, sheets and suffered from misery and famine. Three blankets for the sick. The Gothic-inspired quarters of the town's inhabitants were furniture was reconstituted during the major destitute. To redeem their salvation, the restoration of the room carried out between Chancellor and Guigone de Salins, his wife, 1872 and 1878 by Maurice Ouradou, pupil and decided to create a hospital for the Poor. They son-in-law of Viollet-le-Duc. endowed it with an annual income (from the A sumptuous decor Salins saltworks) and with their own The oak paneled roof frame is home to resources (vines among others), and called on multicolored dragons that "spit out" the cross many artists to decorate it. beams evoking the monsters of hell. The A unique monument comical faces of the bourgeoisie of Beaune During his stays in Flanders, where the Duke are accompanied by the heads of animals that of Burgundy was also Suzerain, Nicolas Rolin symbolize their vices. was seduced by the hospitals of the north but In places, the floor tiles bear the monogram of trusted the “Beaunois” (Beaune inhabitants) the founding couple as well as the courteous to work the masonry and the framework in motto of Nicolas to his wife: "Seulle" (My order to build his Palace for the Poor. This Only). This means that Guigone was the only hospital is considered a jewel of Burgundian lady in her husband's thoughts. medieval architecture with its glazed tile roofs At the entrance to the room, usually placed which have become a characteristic of above the large doorway, is a remarkable Burgundy. Christ with Bonds dating from the late 15th or early 16th century and carved into an oak Salle des Pôvres and the rooms reserved for barrel by Jan Borman. the hospitable sisters. The entrance, marked CHAPEL by the spire rising almost 50 m above the The chapel is an integral part of the Salle des ground, is protected by a remarkable canopy. Pôvres and symbolizes the perfect symbiosis In the middle of the courtyard, the well offers between the religious and medical aspects of one of the best examples in France of the the Hôtel-Dieu. It allowed the residents to elegance of Gothic ironwork. It provided the attend services without having to travel. It water supply for the hospital and more was in this chapel that the famous altarpiece particularly for the kitchen. of the Last Judgement painted by Rogier van SAINT-HUGUES ROOM der Weyden originally took place, which is Created in 1645 at the instigation of Master now presented at the end of the visit. Hugues Bétault, this play reveals the role that The remains of the mortal remains of Guigone benefactors have played in the history of the de Salins are buried under a bronze plaque. Hôtel-Dieu. This room has always been ROOM SAINTE-ANNE assigned to the sick, whose presence is widely (Room not open to visitors) evoked here. This room originally included 4 beds reserved The shelves above the beds were intended to for noble souls. Such was the will of the receive their personal objects. A rope hanging benefactor François Brunet de Montforand, from the centre of the bed helped them to rise whose heart rests here. effortlessly. Transformed over the centuries, the Sainte- Mural paintings Anne room now evokes the laundry of Due to the Parisian painter Isaac Moillon, yesteryear. On the back wall hangs a tapestry nine of the eleven paintings illustrate on a red background with the coat of arms and miraculous healings of Christ. The last two motto of the founders. These sumptuous are consecrated to Saint Hugues as a bishop blankets were placed on the beds in the Salle and in Carthusian costume. On the ceiling is des Pôvres on festive days. represented the miracle of the swimming pool MAIN COURTYARD AND ROOFS of Bethzaïda. The altarpiece of the altar During the visit you will have the opportunity evokes the miracle of St. Hugh raising two to cross several times the courtyard that offers children who died of the plague. the most famous view of the Hôtel-Dieu. Its SAINT NICHOLAS' HALL roofs covered with enameled, multicoloured Intended to accommodate the sick and life- terracotta tiles draw characteristic threatening Poppies, the St. Nicholas' Hall geometrical figures. was used to separate the lightly ill from the The building’s two wings are surmounted by infirm and moribund. Initially modest in size, multiple dormer windows whose sculptures it contained 12 beds occupied by patients of and lead decorations constitute true works of both sexes, which deeply shocked Louis XIV art. Two superimposed galleries allowed the during his visit in 1658. He therefore sisters to carry out their service sheltered from established an annuity of 500 pounds at the bad weather. Their warm polychromy of Hôtel-Dieu so that new arrangements could wood and terracotta contrasts with the be made to separate men from women. This opposite wing, made of stone and slate, which room did not take on its present dimensions houses the large hall. The building until the second half of the 18th century. overlooking the street is deliberately noble The Saint-Nicolas room now houses a and austere. permanent exhibition on the Hôtel-Dieu and Built in freestone and covered with an its history, including an astonishing straw imposing slate roof, it houses the chapel, the model made in the 18th century by a sick person. Covered with glass and illuminated, The painting, painted by Michel Charles an excavation in the ground allows you to see Coquelet Souville in 1751, shows the various the Bouzaise River flowing. This watercourse tasks carried out in Claude Morelot's ensured the evacuation of waste downstream, apothecary in the 18th century: powdering of proof of the concern for hygiene that presided dried plants, use of mortar, distillation in the over the design of the buildings. still and cooking of a medicinal preparation... KITCHEN The bow hanging from the pestle helped to The kitchen functioned with modern lighten its weight and, in this way, facilitated equipment until 1985 for the residents of the the work of the apothecary sisters when retirement home. Today it has regained its preparing remedies. appearance of the beginning of the 20th The Officin century with its piano (large stove) equipped In the second room of the pharmacy or with two hot water taps in the shape of "swan dispensary, the shelves present a collection of necks". 130 earthenware pots dated 1782, in which The vast Gothic fireplace with two hearths were kept ointments, oils, pills or syrups. The remains the centerpiece, which has retained glass jars still contain some "specifics", some its accessories. Its hearth is lined with the of which leave one dreaming: sow bug famous original tiles decorated with the motto powder, crayfish eyes, vomit walnut powder, "Seulle". The cromale, a large articulated property elixir... gallow, makes it possible to move the The bronze mortar, dated 1760, belonged to cauldrons closer or further away from the fire. the apothecary Claude Morelot from Beaune. The most spectacular is the 1698 turn-spit in SALLE SAINT-LOUIS - first part brushed steel, animated by a small automaton, Created in 1661 at the instigation of Louis Messire Bertrand. This one is in traditional Bétault, the Salle Saint-Louis was built in costume: large soft boots, black top-shoes, red place of a barn that closed off the courtyard of leotard with golden buttons and a white cap the Hôtel-Dieu and also served as a winery. with a raised brim. He seems to be turning the This high room, with its rich joisting, contains crank, constantly watching over the activities beautiful Gothic and Renaissance chests, in the kitchen. including a magnificent 15th century chest FOUNDERS' COURTYARD superbly decorated with flamboyant Gothic Under the porch, before entering the motifs and a large chest decorated with pharmacy you can see, through the wrought parchment folds intended to hold the linen for iron gate (1785-1786), the Founders' a sick room. Boxes, statues and stained-glass courtyard with Nicolas Rolins and Guigone windows from the 15th and 16th centuries are de Salins statues made in 1914 and 1923 by displayed in this part of the room.