Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Military Hospital Villemanzy was created in 1859 as an annex to the Hospital Desgenettes, on the heights of the Croix-Rousse in Lyon. Housed in the former Colinettes barracks (which was established in an 18th-century convent), it was renovated to accommodate 386 soldiers and 38 nurses. Specializing in infectious diseases in 1865, its existence was confirmed by the Franco-German War of 1870. In 1886 he was renamed in honour of General Jacques Pierre Orillard de Villemanzy, military intendant.

From 1919 to 1945, the hospital served as an annex to the Military Health Service School, operating on an ad hoc basis until its final closure in 1945. In the 1960s, he welcomed reserve cadets and then military medicine students until 1981. Born in Lyon, he became the Cercle Villemanzy, combining university housing, public garden and restaurant in the former residence of the chief physician. The fountain behind its wall, classified in 1954, is the only element protected by historical monuments.

The architecture of the hospital forms a terraced island bounded by the streets of Saint-Sébastien, des Fantasques, Adamoli and Magneval. The main body, perpendicular to the St Sebastian climb, includes a chapel and wings in return. A villa, a former residence of the head doctor, now houses a restaurant. After 1981, the site was transformed into a 3* hotel residence by the Belambra group, partially retaining its military and medical heritage.

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