Hôtel Dieu in Paris

Hôtel-Dieu de Paris
AP-HP
Main entrance of the Hôtel-Dieu, in 2007
Geography
Location	Paris, France
Organisation
Care system	Public
Services
Emergency department	Yes
Beds	349
Links
Website	http://www.aphp.fr
Lists	Hospitals in France

The Hôtel-Dieu de Paris (French pronunciation: ​[otɛl djø də paʁi]) founded by Saint Landry in 651 AD is the oldest hospital in the city of Paris, France, and is the most central of the Assistance publique - hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) hospitals. The hospital is associated with the Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes. It still resides on the bank of the Île de la Cité, next to Notre-Dame, connected to the "Rive Gauche" by the pont au Double. Although the facility had been ravaged by disastrous fires on several occasions (the current architecture dates back to 1877), the two buildings of the facility were originally built in the 7th and 17th centuries. It was built as a symbol of charity and hospitality. It was the only hospital in Paris until the Renaissance.

The Hôtel-Dieu was founded by Saint Landry in 651 AD, and is considered to be the first hospital in the city and the oldest worldwide still operating.

The history of Parisian hospitals dates from the Middle Ages. Poverty was widespread during that period, and the Hôtel-Dieu became an opportunity for many of the bourgeois and nobility to come to its aid. Their efforts allowed the construction of the Hôpital de la Charité, which linked piety and medical care. Like many hospitals of that era, it started as a general institution catering for the poor and sick, offering food and shelter in addition to medical care. The creation of the Hôtel-Dieu continued this tradition of charity up until the 19th century, despite being called into question during the centuries which followed.