15th Century Hospital on the Eastern Frontier that you can visit

I am researching and creating a walking tour for sites on the eastern side of Lille. This side isn’t as popular as Vieux-Lille, it is less picturesque, sites are hidden between massive modern complexes and run down buildings, but this is because so much of this area was completely destroyed during the two world wars and slow to rebuild. But it is still intriguing, perhaps more so for those who like to tease out historic gems from amid unattractive archecture from the 1970’s. 😆

While I’m getting it all together, I keep finding more interesting sites and history, so it is still a work in progress. However, I’m going to drop a really brief introduction to this place that you can visit now.

L’Hermitage Gantois

This area, from as early as the 900’s, was known as Saint-Sauveur, a village of poor and working class people. In 1460, Jean de Le Cambe (called Gantois, or ‘the man from Ghent’) built this hospice as a place where 13 poor, old men could live out the rest of their years being cared for by the sisters of Saint Sauveur. We would call this a nursing home today. M. Gantois had made a fortune in the alabaster trade and wanted to give back to this community of impoverished, hard working folk.

The guy on the right built this amazing place.

The history is fascinating. Year after year it grew in size, accommodating more residents. It later turned into a full service hospital and functioned as such until 1995. It fell to neglect until it was purchased and turned into a 5 star hotel in the early 2000’s.

I highly recommend a bit to explore this place! The staff are super welcoming, and will answer your questions. You can visit the chapel, the courtyard, the various dining areas and their little history museum.

End your trip with a beer in the lovely center lounge.

I can’t say enough about this hotel. I showed up a little wet, after being caught in a brief rain shower, with my little cart full of vegetables from the market, and they treated me with a welcoming warmth, even though I am clearly a person who could never afford to stay here! After chatting up the bartender for his historical knowledge, he said, “come with me!”, and took me to a couple of special places the casual visitor usually misses. So, even though the beers were a bit pricey, I figured it was the least I could do to show my appreciation. Thank you to the amazing staff for my wonderful visit!