Tonnerre Patrimoine

Hôtel-Dieu website

hoteldieu-tonnerre.com

Hôtel-Dieu

The Hôtel-Dieu de Tonnerre is a former hospital, now a museum, founded in 1293 by Marguerite de Bourgogne, in the town of Tonnerre.
It is the longest medieval hospital in Europe and one of the oldest.
It has been listed as a historic monument since 1862.

History of Hôtel-Dieu

In 1293, Marguerite de Bourgogne, Countess of Tonnerre and widow of Charles d'Anjou, King of Sicily, launched the construction of the Hôtel-Dieu in the heart of the county town of Tonnerre.
She provided the builders with substantial financial resources, as well as the nearby quarries and woods of Maulnes, and chestnut trees from Puisaye and a forest north of Paris, enabling the building to be completed in two years.
In 1295, the Hôtel-Dieu welcomed its first patients in some forty beds.
Around 1305, the Golden Virgin moved into the choir of the Grande Salle.
In 1308, Marguerite de Bourgogne died and was buried in the choir of the Grande Salle.
In 1454, Lancelot de Buronfosse, a wealthy merchant and benefactor, donated a "Mise au tombeau", sculpted by Georges and Michiel de la Sonnette.
From 1642 to 1648, a second hospital was built around the current garden, to solve the first's problems of dampness and coolness. The disused Grande Salle was then used as a burial ground until 1777.
Between 1763 and 1767, an extension was built on the site of the Hôtel-Dieu's former portal, to accommodate several rooms, including one for the hospital's board of directors, as well as a surgery room.
In 1785, a meridian was installed on the floor of the Grande Salle.
In 1793, the Grande Salle was used as a hall and then a straw store. The metals of the meridian and of Marguerite de Bourgogne's tomb were stolen, and the spire of the bell tower (dating back to the 15th century) was destroyed.
In 1819, the descendants of Louvois installed their grandfather's tomb in the left-hand chapel of the Grande Salle.
In 1826, Marguerite de Bourgogne's new tomb was installed on the site of the old one.
In 1850, to make up for the lack of space, the Pavillon Dormois, named after the bursar Camille Dormois, was built on the neighboring square, in neoclassical style.
In 1862, the Hôtel-Dieu was listed as a historic monument.
From 1960 to 1982, the buildings of the Hospital Center, Rue des Jumériaux, were constructed. This marked the end of the Hôtel-Dieu de Tonnerre's hospital activities, although the new hospital was the owner.

Architecture - general building layout

The original establishment comprises a Great Hall of the Poor, accessed via a west porch, intended for the care of sick indigents, terminating in a choir and two chapels, housing four altars. The main one is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and the others to St. John the Baptist, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Elisabeth of Thuringia. At the back of the choir and the south chapel is a sacristy, refurbished in 1454 to accommodate a Tombing.
To the north of this Great Hall, the cemetery is framed by several outbuildings and three main buildings, demolished in 1838, two of which housed hospital services (kitchens, etc.), and one, known as the "Château".), and one, known as the "Château", which served as the residence of the hospital's founder, Marguerite de Bourgogne.
The buildings of the second hospital, erected between 1642 and 1648 and no longer in existence (except for the laundry), were built in an L-shape around the side courtyard (now the garden).
The extension (Courtanvaux room, council room, surgery room, etc.), built between 1763 and 1767 under the direction of the architects Chauvelot and Chaussard at the request of François-César Le Tellier, Duc de Doudeauville, Marquis de Courtanvaux and Comte de Tonnerre, great-grandson of Louvois and benefactor of the hospital, was carried out at the expense of the street façade, the front part of the roof and the porch of the Grande Salle.
The lower part of the extension, with its preserved cellar, now houses the Tonnerre Tourist Office, and the upper part the Hôtel-Dieu museum.

General description of architectural elements

Built on an east-west axis, the Grande Salle and choir apse measure 96 m long (compared with 88.5 m without), 21.5 m wide and 20 m high, making the Hôtel-Dieu de Tonnerre the longest medieval hospital in Europe.
Gothic in style, its stone walls are crowned by a modillion cornice and supported by chaperon buttresses.
It is also pierced by twin pointed-arched windows set in a low-arched embrasure, and covered by an oak-panelled cradle, with exposed structural timbers and puncheons, and ventilated by four-lobed openings.
To the east, it is extended by a choir with a polygonal apse, pierced by high pointed-arched windows with two lancets and a four-lobed grid. The latter is flanked by two chapels. All three are rib-vaulted, as is the former sacristy below.
A square staircase tower, outside the building, gives access to a vaulted room above the left chapel, as well as to the attic.
The south wall is pierced by a door (1764), framed by pilasters, and also supports a stone building, comprising a basement and a square storey, covered by a hipped roof.
To the west of the vessel, an angled staircase provides access to the large landing, forming a tribune dominating the whole, leading to the Courtanvaux room. On the street side, the Courtanvaux Room features a front porch topped by a curved pediment.
The long-sloped, polygonal hipped roof is covered with flat tiles. A hexagonal, slate-trimmed bell tower dominates the west roof.