Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Hospices d'Angers, also known as Hôpital Sainte-Marie, originated in the merger of three Angelin hospitals in the 19th century: the Hôtel-Dieu (founded in the 12th century), the General Hospital (1615) and a hospital opened in 1745. This unification aims to centralize care in a new building, whose first stone was laid in 1849 by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. The architect Edouard Moll designed the building, while the chapel, decorated between 1857 and 1868, became a major testimony of the religious painting of the time.

The Sainte-Marie chapel, integrated into the hospital complex, was classified as a historical monument in 1930 for its frescoes signed by Jules Lenepveu, Eugene Appert and Jules Dauban. These works, made with oil, wax and fresco, illustrate the artistic and spiritual evolution of the second half of the 19th century. The site thus embodies both a medical heritage and an exceptional artistic heritage.

Over the decades, the institution evolved to become a university hospital centre (CHU) in 1966, while retaining architectural and decorative elements of its past. Today, it combines medical modernity and preservation of a classified heritage, symbolizing the continuity between history and health innovation.

The CHU d'Angers, born out of this history, asserts itself as a regional centre of reference in health, education and research. Its historical anchor, marked by the chapel and its frescoes, recalls the importance of hospitals as places of care, but also of collective memory and sacred art.

External links