Purchase of Picon House 1699 (≈ 1699)
Acquisition of land for the future hospital.
1714
Start of work
Start of work 1714 (≈ 1714)
Construction of the chapel wing.
1717
Completion of work
Completion of work 1717 (≈ 1717)
End of initial construction.
1792
Departure of nuns
Departure of nuns 1792 (≈ 1792)
Loss of hospital income.
1833
Improvement work
Improvement work 1833 (≈ 1833)
Modifications by architect Cazal.
1962
Decommissioning
Decommissioning 1962 (≈ 1962)
Permanent closure of the hospital.
8 juillet 2009
Historical monument classification
Historical monument classification 8 juillet 2009 (≈ 2009)
Listing of HMs.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
The entire old hospital, with its enclosures and fence walls (cad. A 431, 1449): registration by order of 8 July 2009
Key figures
Marquise de Portes - Patron
The hospital was completed.
Guillaume Rollin - Architect
Designs initial plans.
Architecte Cazal - Renovator
Modified the hospital in 1833.
Origin and history
The former hospital of Rivières, located in the village of Rivières (formerly Rivières-de-Theyrargues) in the Gard, was built in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. It illustrates the model of small rural hospitals created under the impetus of Louis XIV, as general hospitals developed in large cities. Its architecture, designed by Guillaume Rollin, reflects a typical organization: a central courtyard, wings in return, and an integrated chapel for the sick and nuns.
The building began in 1714 with the wing of the chapel, thanks to the patronage of the Marquise de Portes, Viscountess of Theyrargues. Although the chapel underwent transformations in the 19th century, the whole today retains most of its original arrangements. The hospital, decommissioned in 1962, was listed as a historical monument in 2009, but its state of ruin in 2012 underlined the urgency of its preservation.
Originally, the hospital occupied a house purchased in 1699 (the Picon house), redeveloped to include a central chapel and patient rooms on both sides. The nuns left the site in 1792, and the establishment lost its income before gradually resuming its activities. In the 19th century, schools were installed in the northern part, and works conducted in 1833 by the architect Cazal partially altered its appearance.
The building consists of a main house body on one floor, with a pilaster-framed door and a curvilinear cornice. Inside, a corridor connects the old house and serves rooms opening onto the garden. Despite its abandonment, the hospital remains a major architectural and historical testimony of rural medical assistance in Occitanie.
