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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Hôtel-Dieu de Louhans was built between 1682 and 1686 to replace an old medieval hospital, thanks to the legacy of Jean-Baptiste Vitte, canon of Chalon-sur-Saône. Originally equipped with a room of 12 beds and a chapel, it was enlarged between 1715 and 1778 to separate patients by sex and add an apothecary. The Sisters of the Order of Sainte-Marthe took care of it until its closure in 1977, when the site became a museum.

The architecture, in H-shaped design, consists of two halls of sick people (wood beds for men, iron beds for women), a chapel reserved for nuns, and an apothecary with a rare collection of Hispano-Mauresque faiences of the 15th to 16th centuries. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1964, the building also preserves elements such as an octagonal campanile, a wrought iron staircase, and carved frontons, including one depicting the parable of the Good Samaritan (1764).

After its decommissioning, the Hôtel-Dieu was converted into a museum of deaf culture (since 2013), paying tribute to Ferdinand Berthier, a native of Louhans and a major figure in the deaf community. The site also appears in cultural productions, such as the short film Mal Caduc (2019) broadcast on ARTE. Its exceptional state of conservation makes it a unique testimony of the hospitals of Ancien Régime in Burgundy.

The construction campaigns spread over almost a century, with major modifications in the 18th century under the direction of architect Joseph Marchal (also active at Cluny Abbey). The administrators gradually adapted the premises to hygiene standards, adding latrines (1831), isolation rooms (1868), or an infirmary for the sisters. Despite financial constraints, the whole remained stylistic, combining classicism and hospital functions.

Today, the museum highlights both the medical heritage (patient rooms, apothecary) and the social history, especially through the inheritance of the nuns of Sainte-Marthe, present for nearly 300 years. The collections include objects related to traditional medicine, hospital archives, and temporary exhibitions on deafness, making Louhans a dual-purpose place of memory: historical and inclusive.

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