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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Divers
  3. Pays-de-la-Loire
  4. Sarthe
  5. 72100 au Mans

  6. Former asylum of aliens

Former asylum of aliens dans la Sarthe

Former asylum of aliens

    6 Rue Etoc Demazy
    72100 au Mans
Ownership of a public institution
Museums of France
Miscellaneous
Ancien asile daliénés
Ancien asile daliénés
Ancien asile daliénés
Ancien asile daliénés
Crédit photo : Trowa Barton - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1800
1900
2000
1828
Asylum Foundation
1918
Spanish flu epidemic
2001
First classification historical monument
2011
Final closure
2016
Extension of classification
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The following elements as they appear on the plan attached to the decree: the chapel (No. 1) and the pavilion of the "agitated" - side Huisne River (No. 3A) , in full ; traffic galleries linking the designated buildings to this Order; the facades and roofs of the following buildings: the two pavilions surrounding the chapel (Nos. 2A and 2B) , the doorway (No. 4) , the directional building in the centre of the courtyard (No. 5) - with the exception of the 20th century service spaces (No. 6) - the wards of patients located on either side of the central courtyard (No. 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, 9A, 9B) , the two service pavilions connected to the steering building (Nos. 10A and 10B) , the first class guest pavilion on the river Huisne (No. 11) , the doctor's house and its garden building (No. 12); Plating grounds, including fence walls (see Box HW 166, 294): Order of 4 October 2001

Key figures

Gustave Etoc - Chief Medical Officer and Director Knows his name at the hospital.
Hippolyte Lebas - Author of the model plan (1818) Inspired by Esquirol theories.
Félix Delarue - Asylum architect Designed the buildings in 1828.
Jean-Étienne Esquirol - Toulouse Psychiatrist Theoretician influential for the plan.

Origin and history

The Etoc-Demaze hospital, opened in 1828 in Le Mans, is an emblematic 19th century psychiatric hospital. Built according to a model plan of 1818 designed by Hippolyte Lebas and inspired by the theories of Dr Esquirol, it was one of the first asylums in France. The architect Felix Delarue designed the buildings, organized around a central axis with chapel, pavilions for the sick, and a strict separation between men and women. Some spaces, such as the agitated wing or dissection amphitheater, still retain their original installations.

There were critical periods in asylum, particularly during the Spanish influenza epidemic (1918), which killed one third of the 1,000 residents. Undernourishment also aggravated conditions during the two world wars. Directed by Dr. Gustave Etoc, the facility served as a model for other psychiatric hospitals, although its infrastructure, never modernized, became obsolete. The final closure occurred in 2011, with the transfer of activities to the more modern hospital in Allonnes.

Ranked a historic monument since 2001 (and extended in 2004 and 2016), the site includes the chapel, the agitated pavilion, galleries, and several facades. After its closure, some of the buildings were reassigned to offices (such as the ARAF) or urban projects, integrating the Gare du Mans district, boosted by the arrival of the TGV (1989) and tramway (2007). Heritage Days (2010-2011) allowed the public to discover its history and architecture, before it was transformed into a real estate and commercial complex.

The asylum is part of a broader history of French psychiatry, marked by the work of Esquirol and the evolution of care for the mentally ill. Its location on the site of a former infectious hospital (1584) also highlights the continuity of care facilities in Le Mans. The sisters of the Abbey of Notre-Dame d'Évron played a religious and social role there for decades, organizing celebrations and support for the residents.

Today, the site, partly preserved, bears witness to the 19th century hospital architecture and the challenges of preserving the medical heritage. Its ranking protects key elements such as concierge, pavilions, and fence walls, while its integration into a contemporary urban project questions the balance between memory and modernity.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum