The Museum of the Hôtel-Dieu and the Hospices of Beaune

Crowned by a lavish glazed tile roof, now emblematic of the region, the Hôtel-Dieu of Beaune is renowned throughout the world for its traditional, prestigious charity wine sale, which takes place on the third Sunday of November. A remarkable example of Burgundian medieval architecture, it was built in the flamboyant Gothic style in the 15th century, at the request of Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy, to help the poorest people in times of illness. A listed Historic Monument, nowadays it houses a museum of medical history, with a collection of around 5,000 items of furniture and objects, ranging from tapestries and paintings to sculptures and pharmacy pots, through chests and beds. One notable item amongst all these treasures is the famous polyptych of the Last Judgment, a masterpiece produced in the 15th century by the Flemish artist Rogier van der Weyden.

On your tour of this bastion of French heritage, you can see the impressive Hall of the Poor, with its magnificent oak-panelled ceiling and two rows of beds with red curtains, the chapel, St. Hugh's Hall and its mural paintings, St. Nicholas' Hall and its exhibition on the history of the Hospices, the kitchen and its beautiful Gothic fireplace with two hearths or the pharmacy and its collection of 130 earthenware pots from the 18th century. The tour ends with the polyptych by Rogier van der Weyden, which once hung above the chapel altar, and a superb collection of old tapestries from Tournai, Brussels and Aubusson.