Initial Foundation 1170 (≈ 1170)
Created by Louis le Jeune outside the ramparts.
1208
Intramural transfer
Intramural transfer 1208 (≈ 1208)
Movement near the royal castle.
XIVe siècle
Health crisis
Health crisis XIVe siècle (≈ 1450)
Weakness by the plague.
1806
Sales and degradation
Sales and degradation 1806 (≈ 1806)
Division into batches and partial destruction.
14 mai 1927
First protection
First protection 14 mai 1927 (≈ 1927)
Registration of the door and arcades.
24 juin 2020
Extension of protection
Extension of protection 24 juin 2020 (≈ 2020)
Façades, roofs and sick room.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
The 13th century gate and the inner arcades of the former Hôtel-Dieu, sis rue du Châtel: inscription of 14 May 1927; The facades and roofs of the house (n°24), except the contemporary veranda, the entire hall of the sick (n°26), including its cellar and the right of way of the floors of the garden plot of the former Hôtel-Dieu, located at n°24 and 26 rue du Châtel, appearing in the cadastre section AE, plots Nos. 344 and 345, as delimited on the plan annexed to the decree: inscription by decree of 24 June 2020
Key figures
Louis le Jeune - Initial Founder
King at the origin of the first hotel-God.
Origin and history
The Hotel-Dieu de Senlis, founded in the 13th century, organizes around a main building housing a sanctuary and rooms for the sick, oriented perpendicular to the Rue du Châtel. This medieval hospital complex also includes side houses, added until the 17th century, which housed a convent of nuns as well as essential services: kitchen, dining room, pharmacy, and attics. Its architecture is distinguished by a trilobed tympanum carved with plant motifs and hooks, and by broken arcades separating the three inner naves. These elements, typical of Gothic art, reflect the spiritual and charitable duality of the establishment.
A first hotel-Dieu was established in 1170 by Louis le Jeune in the suburbs of Saint Martin, outside the ramparts of Senlis, before being transferred in 1208 near the royal castle, on the present rue du Châtel, for security reasons. Its operation is based on royal, episcopal and private gifts (land, money, tithes), allowing it to welcome and care for the poor. Despite crises such as the plague in the 14th century and sometimes failing management, the Hôtel-Dieu survived until the Revolution. Sold in 1806, it suffered major damage: destruction of the south side, the bell tower, and the abside, while the sick room became a warehouse in the 19th century.
The heritage protections took place late: the 13th century door and the interior arcades were inscribed in 1927, followed in 2020 by facades, roofs, and the sick room with its cellar. These measures aim to preserve the remains of an emblematic place of medieval charity, marked by nearly 600 years of hospital history.
The site illustrates the evolution of medical and religious practices in the Middle Ages, where God-hotels played a central role in assisting the poorest. In Senlis, a city close to Paris and linked to the crown, this establishment enjoyed constant royal support, while suffering the political and health hazards of its time. Today, its ruins and protected elements bear witness to this vocation, both spiritual and social, rooted in the urban landscape since the thirteenth century.
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