Hospice Comtesse Museum, Lille

In the middle of the old town of Lille, on the cobbled street, Money Street (rue de la Monnaie), there is a museum like no other. Behind imposing wooden doors is the Hospice Comtesse Museum. Pass through the doors and discover a museum consisting of different buildings and courtyards laid out like a medieval convent.

The museum was once a hospital founded in 1237 by Jeanne, Comtesse of Flanders. The Comtesse established the hospital within her own palace walls. The mission of the hospital was to care for the sick and the poor and to be a haven for pilgrims on their way to Rome and Compostela. It fulfilled its mission until 1939.

The museum is made up of buildings dating from the 15th, 17th and 18th centuries. There is a former hospital ward with a paneled vault ceiling. The chapel is adorned with the coats-of-arms of titled donors. Other buildings belonged to a community of Augustine nuns. All were arranged around a couple of courtyards and a garden of medicinal herbs.

Since 1962 the building has operated as museum. The collections include paintings, wood sculptures, tapestries and porcelain drawn from the area. The overall ambience is of a Flemish convent of the 1600s.