Hospices de Beaune

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About Hospices de Beaune

The Hospices de Beaune, also called the Hôtel-Dieu, were founded in 1443, at the end of the Hundred Years' War, by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor to Duke Philip the Good, and by his wife Guigone de Salins. The idea was to provide a hospital for the poor in a region impoverished by war. The building functioned as a hospital until the 20th century and today is a museum of the history of medicine.

The street-facing façade is restrained. The surprise is in the cour d’honneur, surrounded by roofs of glazed tiles in diamond patterns of yellow, green, red and black—the design that became a symbol of Burgundy. The Grande Salle des Pôvres, the hall of the poor, is about 50 metres long and has a painted wooden ceiling shaped like an inverted ship’s hull, with beds closed off by curtains lined along both sides.

The route goes through the kitchen and the pharmacy, with ceramic jars and bottles of old medicines, and ends in the room that houses the polyptych of the Last Judgment, painted by Rogier van der Weyden for the hospital altar. A movable magnifying glass helps to see the details.

The Hospices are still supported by a vineyard estate. The wines are sold at a famous charity auction, the Vente des Vins des Hospices de Beaune, held every year in November. Right opposite, the Marché aux Vins, set in the former church of the Cordeliers, offers cellar visits with tastings.