The Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon () was a hospital of historical significance situated on the right bank of the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

river in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, on the

Presqu'île The Presqu'île (; literally "almost an island" in French, meaning "peninsula")''Le petit Robert de la langue française'' 2007 is the central part of the City of Lyon, France. Extending from the foot of the Croix-Rousse hill in the north to t ...

(the peninsula between the

Saône The Saône ( , ; ; ) is a river in eastern France (modern Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges (department), Vosges Departments of France, department an ...

and Rhône which run through the city centre). It has been out of use since 2010. As part of the Presqu'île district, the building was inscribed on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

along with other buildings within Lyon's historic centre. In 2019, an

InterContinental InterContinental Hotels & Resorts by IHG is a British-American luxury hotel brand created in 1946 by Pan Am founder Juan Trippe. It has been part of UK-based InterContinental Hotels Group since 1998. As of January 2023, there were 208 InterC ...

hotel opened in the renovated building.

History

First erected in medieval times, the building originally served as the "Confrérie des frères pontifes" (est. 1184), a pontifical meeting-place and refuge for both traveling and local members of the clergy. However, when the first doctor Maître Martin Conras was hired in 1454, 'Hôtel-Dieu' became a fully functional hospital, one of the most important in France. As Lyon was a city known for its trade and seasonal fairs, many of the early patients were weary travelers of foreign descent. In 1532, 'Hôtel-Dieu' appointed former Franciscan/Benedictine monk-turned-doctor and great Humanist

François Rabelais François Rabelais ( , ; ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French writer who has been called the first great French prose author. A Renaissance humanism, humanist of the French Renaissance and Greek scholars in the Renaissance, Gr ...

, who would write his

Gargantua and Pantagruel ''The Five Books of the Lives and Deeds of Gargantua and Pantagruel'' (), often shortened to ''Gargantua and Pantagruel'' or the (''Five Books''), is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It tells the advent ...

during his tenure here. Renaissance poet

Louise Labé Louise Charlin Perrin Labé ( – 25 April 1566), also identified as La Belle Cordière ("The Fair Ropemaker") after her father's job, was a French Renaissance poet from Lyon. Biography Louise Labé was born in Lyon, into a family of ropemakers ...

lived just beyond the western limits of the building. The Hôtel-Dieu also had as a practitioner in the 1530s and 1540s,

Pierre Tolet Pierre Tolet or Petrus Toletus (circa 1502 - circa 1580) was a French physician who, together with Jean Canappe contributed to the transmission of medical and surgical knowledge in French. Biography Originally from the diocese of Béziers, he stu ...

who was one of the promoters of the French language in medicine. Massive expansion projects in the 17th century by Guillaume Ducellet (under

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

and

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

) and in the 18th century by

Jacques-Germain Soufflot Jacques-Germain Soufflot (, 22 July 1713 – 29 August 1780) was a French architect in the international circle that introduced neoclassicism. His most famous work is the Panthéon in Paris, built from 1755 onwards, originally as a church ded ...

(under

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

and

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...

) replaced the original building with the grandiose wings and courts we know today. In fact, at its greatest point, the hospital extended from its present position beyond

Place Bellecour The Place Bellecour () is a large square in the centre of Lyon, France, to the north of the Ainay district. Measuring 312 m by 200 m (6.2 ha or 15 acres), it is one of the largest open squares (without any patches of greenery or ...

to engulf the area now occupied by the central post office. 'Hôtel-Dieu' houses the "Musée des Hospices Civils" a permanent exhibit tracing the history and practice of medicine from the Middle Ages to modern time and includes a fine collection of apothecary vases amongst other objects. In May 2015, it was announced that the building, which ceased to function as a hospital in 2010, would be converted into a high-end shopping and dining center. InterContinental Lyon - Hotel Dieu opened in 2019.

Gallery

Lyon (52164665586).jpg, Exterior Exterior of chapelle de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon.jpg, Chapel Interior of chapelle de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon 15.jpg, Chapel Pulpit by Marc Chabry II.jpg, Chapel Interior of chapelle de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon 11.jpg, Chapel Interior of chapelle de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon 12.jpg, Chapel Bar Le Dôme (Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon) 03.jpg, Le Dôme Bar Le Dôme (Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon) 01.jpg, Le Dôme Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon - Cour Saint-Henri - Coupole.jpg, Façade sur Cour Saint-Henri Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon - Statue d'Amédée Bonnet - Profil gauche.jpg, Statue d'Amédée Bonnet Hotel-Dieu de Lyon - Cour Saint-Martin - Angle sud-ouest.jpg, Façade sur Cour Saint-Martin Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon - Cour Saint-Henri - Côté nord-est.jpg, Façade sur Cour Saint-Henri Exterior of Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon 01.jpg, Entrée cour d'honneur Entrée cour d'honneur hotel-dieu lyon ii.jpg, Dome de l'entrée vue intérieure Exterior of Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon 02.jpg, Cour d'honneur arborée et plates-bandes fleurie Hotel-Dieu de Lyon - Cour Sainte-Elisabeth.jpg, Cour Sainte-Élisabeth Hotel-DIeu_interior,_ornamentation.jpg, Ornamentation d'une fontaine cour intérieure

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel-Dieu De Lyon 2nd arrondissement of Lyon 19th century in Lyon Buildings and structures in Lyon Hospitals established in the 15th century Hospitals in France

History

Gallery

See also

References