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Origin and history

The Hospice Gantois was founded in 1462 by Jean de Le Cambe, nicknamed the Gantois, a rich alabaster and alderman trader in Lille. His founding act provided for the reception of thirteen poor old people, offering shelter, shelter and care. The institution, attached to the Collège Saint-Pierre, was established in a poor area of Lille-Centre, where other charitable works already existed. Eight Augustine sisters, hospitallers, initially provided care, while the chapel housed the founder's tomb and a 15th century cross path.

Over the centuries, the hospice evolved into a modern hospital function, especially between the 18th and 20th centuries. During World War II, he served as shelter for wounded soldiers during the Battle of Lille in 1940, after the evacuation of the elderly in 1939. Ranked Historic Monument in 1923 and then in 1967, he ceased his activity in 1995. In 2003, the site was converted into a luxury hotel, the Gantois Hermitage, while preserving heritage elements such as the cloister, the library and medieval frescoes.

The original architecture included a hall of the sick, a chapel decorated with a fresco of Saint Piat and a holy cephalophore, as well as four courtyards surrounded by buildings. Enlargements in the 17th century added a house for the chaplain and a welcoming house, the latter housing a statue of Saint John the Baptist. The large living room, chapel and cloister, preserved during the renovation, today recall its charitable and religious past.

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