Coloured roofs
In the courtyard.
Rolf Kranz — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chatsam — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GO69 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GO69 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GO69 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Hospices de Beaune, also called the Hôtel-Dieu, is a 15th-century hospital in the centre of the historic town of Beaune, in Burgundy in eastern France, about 37 km in a straight line south-west of Dijon. It was founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Guigone de Salins, as a free hospital for the poor at a time of war, plague and famine. It took in patients for more than five centuries, until 1971, and the old building is now a museum, while care goes on in modern hospital buildings. From the street the facade is plain, but the courtyard reveals the famous roofs: steep slopes covered in glazed tiles of red, green, yellow and black set in diamond patterns, with rows of dormers above a timber gallery. Inside, the Great Hall of the Poor keeps its rows of curtained beds under a painted timber ceiling, and visitors also see the old kitchen, the pharmacy and a celebrated 15th-century altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden. A visit takes about an hour with an audio guide. The old centre of Beaune around it is small and easy to explore on foot.
In the courtyard.
Curtained beds.
Jars and tools.
Rue de l'Hôtel-Dieu, Beaune, Côte-d'Or, France
About an hour.
About 37 km in a straight line.