Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The former convent of the Visitation, located on the site of the Antiquaille in Lyon, was founded in the 17th century before being profoundly redesigned in the 19th century. From 1803 he was converted into a hospital to decongeste the Lyon medical structures, initially welcoming beggars, alienates and venereal patients. The doctors, recruited on a competitive basis, developed a pioneering scientific approach, especially in syphilography under the impulse of figures like Paul Diday.

Between 1830 and 1876, architect Louis Cécile Flacheron conducted major expansion and modernization works, integrating Romanesque and Byzantine styles. The convent, organized around a square brick and yellow stone cloister, also housed a church richly decorated with mosaics and paintings. In 1846, the institution was attached to the civil Hospices of Lyon to alleviate its financial difficulties, marking a turning point in its administration.

In the 20th century, the hospital played a discreet but active role during the Resistance: in May 1943, resistors from the South Liberation group released falsely hospitalized German prisoners. After 1945, the Antiquaille became a reference centre in renal nephrology and transplantation, thanks to the work of Jules Traeger and the early use of immunosuppressants developed by the Institut Pasteur in Lyon. The site closed in 2003, leaving room for a real estate project combining housing, luxury hotel (Villa Maïa, opened in 2017) and student residences.

Archaeological excavations in 2011-2012 revealed remains of an ancient habitat (I–II century), destroyed to allow the construction of the new complex. Today, the facades, roofs, cloister and chapel of the convent have been protected as historical monuments since 2013, bearing witness to its architectural and medical heritage.

Among the notable figures, Paul Diday (1813–95) distinguished himself by his research on syphilis, while Jean-Victor Augagneur and Victor Rochet helped modernize venereal and urological services. The architect Pierre-Marie Bossan, alongside sculptors like Charles Dufraine, gave the convent its eclectic character, combining monastic austerity and sacred decorations.

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