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Origin and history

The Hospices de Beaune, founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor of the Duke of Burgundy Philippe le Bon, and his wife Guigone de Salins, are a masterpiece of flamboyant Gothic architecture. Located in Beaune, this monument was designed as a "palace for the poor sick", offering free care to the indigent, old and orphans from 1452. Its organization reflects a fusion between Christian charity and medieval hospital management, with rooms dedicated to men, women, and serious patients.

The courtyard of honour, with multicolored painted tile roofs, and the large room of the "pôvres" (50 m long) with its frame in the shape of an overturned boat frame, illustrate the fascist of the building. The polyptych The Last Judgment of Rogier van der Weyden (1446-1452), commissioned for the chapel, and the 60-hectare vineyard, whose wines have been sold at auction since 1859, testify to its cultural and economic influence. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1862, the site is now a museum.

The establishment evolved in the 17th and 18th centuries with the addition of rooms such as Saint-Hugues (1645) or Saint-Louis (1661), and transformations to separate the sexes or accommodate well-off patients. The "Pôvres" room, restored in 1875 by Maurice Ouradou (gendre de Viollet-le-Duc), lost its original medieval facilities. In 1971, medical activities were transferred to a new hospital, allowing the conservation of the historic site.

The wine estate, which comes from medieval donations, includes plots in first raw and great wines of the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits. The sale of Beaune's hospices, organized every third Sunday in November, has financed charitable works since 1859. The Hôtel-Dieu, integrated into UNESCO's World Heritage in 2015 via the Climates of Burgundy vineyards, attracts more than one million visitors per year.

Among the remarkable elements are the kitchen with its automated turntable (1698), the 18th century apothecary with 130 pots of earthenware, and the medieval cellars of 300 m. The site was also a filming venue for films such as La Grande Vadrouille (1966). The founders, Nicolas Rolin and Guigone de Salins, rest in the chapel, symbolizing their philanthropic commitment.

Architecture combines external austerity (stone facade) and interior richness (sculpted decorations, stained glass windows, polychrome roofs). The varnished tiles, restored in the 20th century, and the gargoyles added in the 19th and 20th centuries reflect later interventions. The monument embodies both the Burgundian heritage, the medieval hospital innovation and a still alive wine tradition.

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