Gantois Hospice, 15th-century hospital in Lille-Centre district, France.
Gantois Hospice is a 15th-century care facility in central Lille organized around four courtyards enclosed by low brick and stone buildings. The Flemish Renaissance style defines the structures, with the chapel serving as the central spiritual space within this residential complex.
Jean de Le Cambe, called "Gantois", an alderman and alabaster merchant, founded the hospice by an act of 3 July 1462 to house thirteen destitute old people, attached to the collegiate church of Saint-Pierre. Eight Augustinian nursing sisters cared for them, and from the 18th to the 20th century the house gradually became a modern hospital. It served until 1995 and became the Hermitage Gantois hotel in 2003.
The founder's nickname, "Gantois", refers to Ghent, and the hospice was attached to the collegiate church of Saint-Pierre rather than the parish of Saint-Sauveur. Eight Augustinian nursing sisters ran it at the start. In the chapel, look for the tomb of Jean de Le Cambe and a 15th-century Stations of the Cross.
The complex sits at the corner of rue Pierre-Mauroy and rue Malpart, served by the Mairie de Lille metro station. It now operates as the Hermitage Gantois hotel, so the chapel, cloister, library and grand salon are seen as part of the hotel rather than as a museum. Enter from the street side to reach the courtyards.
In the chapel, a surviving wall painting shows Saint Piat together with a cephalophore saint who carries his own skull in his hands. The chapel also holds the tomb of founder Jean de Le Cambe and a Stations of the Cross from the 15th century. These details are easily missed by guests passing through the hotel.
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