Hôtel-Dieu

In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu (English: hotel of God) was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris being the oldest and most renowned, or have been converted into hotels, museums, or general purpose buildings (for instance housing a préfecture, the administrative head office of a French department).

Therefore, as a secondary meaning, the term hôtel-Dieu can also refer to the building itself, even if it no longer houses a hospital.

Examples include:

Belgium

Notre Dame à la Rose, founded in 1242

France

Hôtel-Dieu d'Angers, founded in 1153

Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune, founded in 1443

Hôtel-Dieu of Carpentras, built in 1754

Hôtel-Dieu of Château-Thierry, founded in 1304

Hôtel-Dieu of Cluny, built in the 17th and 18th century

Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon, created in 1478

Hôtel-Dieu of Nantes, completed in 1508

Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, founded in 650

Hôtel-Dieu of Reims

Hôtel-Dieu de Tonnerre, founded in 1293

Hôtel-Dieu Neuf de la Trinité of Thiers, later part of Thiers old hospital.