Hôpital Général

English translation

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History

The creation of the general hospital of Le Puy follows that of numerous establishments of this type throughout France, within the framework of the vast movement arising from the Counter-Reformation, aiming both to assist the poor and to keep them under control. In 1677 this creation is decided by the administrative board of the Hôtel-Dieu. From 1684 to 1687, acquisition of land and buildings in the proximity of the Hôtel-Dieu. Some are demolished and others built, the whole forming a closed quadrilateral. However, the whole soon appears inadequate. The decision is made in 1783 to demolish and rebuild on the same site. In 1749, the board decides to construct a large building intended to house poor old women, which was subsequently to be completed by other buildings respecting the original form of the quadrilateral. The work site is entrusted to the architect J. Baptiste Hack, called Vessan, and to Jean Vernet, master mason. In 1731, arrangement of a prison of six cells in a henhouse situated on the path going from the terrace to the gardens. Until the middle of the 18th century, worship was celebrated in a house situated at the location of the present church, but the collapse of a floor necessitates the construction of a church in 1753. The house also housed the bakery and lodgings for the Daughters of the Good Shepherd. After its demolition, a building was constructed for this purpose in the extension of the church. In 1756, construction of a madhouse near the prison. In 1768, construction of a granary while preserving the façades of purchased houses. In 1784, the architect Portal constructs a building for factories and manufactures for the craft activity of the hospital. In 1911, the bakery is demolished to permit the construction of an office pavilion and caretaker's lodge, the current entrance to the hospital. Inside, the men's dormitory is presented as a vast room occupying the entire first floor of the north wing, comprised of six bays with edge vaults. On the ground floor, the archive room, called the Régence room, is furnished with 18th-century woodwork. The central cupboard is marked with a arched pediment adorned with rocaille sculpture. The opposite wall is furnished with a waxed wood fireplace with arched jambs, surmounted by a stucco pier glass.