Hôtel-Dieu

The Hôtel-Dieu, in Paris

The Hôtel-Dieu is the oldest hospital of Paris, located on the Île de la Cité, near Notre-Dame. The Paris audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this venerable institution, which has cared for Parisians since the Middle Ages.

The oldest hospital of Paris

The Hôtel-Dieu is the oldest hospital of Paris still in activity, and one of the oldest of the world. According to tradition, its origins date back to the early Middle Ages, which makes it a more than thousand-year-old institution, at the service of the sick and the most deprived of the capital. Installed on the Île de la Cité, a stone's throw from the cathedral of Notre-Dame, it occupied for centuries a central role in the life of the town, welcoming the indigent, the pilgrims and the sick, at a time when caring often came under religious charity. The vast current building, with imposing architecture ordered around courtyards and galleries, was rebuilt in the nineteenth century. Still a hospital today, the Hôtel-Dieu testifies to a long history of care and solidarity, and remains an important element of the heritage and the life of Paris.

What to see

Here you discover the oldest hospital of Paris still in activity, a more than thousand-year-old institution that has cared for the sick and the deprived since the Middle Ages, on the Île de la Cité near Notre-Dame, in a vast nineteenth-century building ordered around courtyards and galleries. The Hôtel-Dieu testifies to a long history of care and solidarity in Paris. It is a stop to be discovered, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Hôtel-Dieu lies on the Île de la Cité, near Notre-Dame, in the heart of Paris, reachable on foot and by public transport. You admire its architecture from outside; it is a hospital in activity, whose access follows its own conditions. You discover it during a walk on the island.

What is the Hôtel-Dieu of Paris?

The oldest hospital of Paris still in activity, and one of the oldest of the world, whose origins date back to the Middle Ages; installed on the Île de la Cité near Notre-Dame, it has cared for Parisians for more than a thousand years.

Where is the Hôtel-Dieu of Paris?

On the Île de la Cité, near Notre-Dame, in the heart of Paris, in France.