 During the 16th and 17th centuries in France, poverty was devastating, and -since the Fronde- the country very much looked like a huge "Cour des Miracles" (a famous area of Paris famed for its disreputable population). King Louis 14 -at some key figures' instigation- decided to enact in 1656 a Royal Act creating general hospitals, the role of which was mainly social. This Royal Act was then enforced in the provinces in 1662.
Jacques-François, Marquis of Hautefort, who was yet well-known for his miserliness (he served as a model for Molière's Harpagon), then decided to create a poorhouse to welcome the local destitutes. The building of it started on February 4. 1669, and was finished in 1740: it bears the shape of a Greek cross, with a chapel in the center surrounded by quadrilateral buildings.
33 (the age of the Christ) poverty-stricken persons were thus welcomed in this poorhouse:
- 11 old people in the Holy Father's room (top of the cross, to the East)
- 11 young boys in the Holy Word's room (bottom of the cross, to the West)
- 11 women in the Holy Spirit's room (the right branch of the cross, to the South).
 The poorhouse was abandonned in 1895, and even if it was partly ruined, it served as a military hospital during Word War I. It became a property of the town of Hautefort in 1906, and was classified a Historical Monument in 1927; it was renovated starting 1999 and now hosts the Tourism Office, a weavers workshop and the Museum of the Medicine.
Hippocrates' room, Plato's room, Aristotle's room, Galien's room: don't look here for any awful jars filled with formalin and improbable human remains! The museum aims at leading you to discover the evolution of the medicine from the 16th century to the present.
Besides the chapel and the first room where the former poorhouse was recreated, you'll have the opportunity to admire a stunning collection of antique instruments, so that you'll better understand the evolution of the gynecology, the obstetrics, the pediatrics, the prothesis, the dentistry, the radiology, etc.
Among others, you'll admire extraordinary surgeon cases dating back to the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, an exceptional collection of copper Poupinel ovens, of Monterland autoclaves, of dentists' offices from 1870 to the present, etc. An evocation of Pasteur and of his unique discoveries is to be seen in the last room to be visited.
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Schedules
- Everyday from Easter to May: 10:00 to 12:00 a.m. and 02:00 to 06:00 p.m.
- In June, July, August and September: 10:00 a.m. to 07:00 p.m.
French guided tours, free tours, guide books in German, English, Spanish and Dutch
- in October: Mondays to Fridays: 10:00 to 12:00 a.m. and 02:00 to 06:00 p.m. Open all the year round for groups upon reservation
Contact
Docteur Louis Charles BARNIER
Président de l'Association de Muséographie médicale de Hautefort
lcbarnier@hotmail.com
Tél : 06 85 52 29 75
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