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Origin and history

The chapel of the former General Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand was built between 1850 and 1855 in a neoclassical style, under the direction of architect Hugues Imbert. It replaced a first chapel deemed too small to accommodate the hospital residents, founded in 1657 to fight begging. His Greek cross plan, with four separate entrances, reflected a strict social organization: separation of men, women, children, and independent access for the congregation and the public.

Dedicated to Saint Vincent-de-Paul, the chapel was decommissioned in 1978 after the hospital was demolished, whose old premises were replaced by a new establishment in Cebazat. Saved in extremis by its inscription in historical monuments in 1977, it is today the last vestige of the General Hospital. Its ionic facade, its dome on a square drum and its murals signed Augustin Régis (1850) make it a remarkable example of the religious heritage of Auvergnat.

Inside, the polychrome decorations of Augustin Régis, combining light blue, ochre and gilding, adorn the vaults and pendants representing the four Evangelists. The stained glass windows, made by Émile Thibault, illustrate saints linked to charity (Saint Désiré, Saint André) and penance. After decades of abandonment, the municipality restored the chapel in 2010 to a cultural place, now hosting exhibitions, especially during the Nicéphore + festival.

The general hospital, originally designed to lock up the poor and reduce begging, evolved in the 19th century towards a more medical structure. Its destruction in the 1980s, to give way to the judicial city, almost erased all traces of this historical complex. The chapel, spared, today bears witness to this dual history: that of a charitable institution and that of an architectural heritage preserved despite urban transformations.

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