Grand Hôtel-Dieu (Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie)

The Grand Hôtel-Dieu is a former hospital on the west bank of the Rhône, at 1 Place de l'Hôpital in Lyon's 2nd arrondissement, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. The hospital's origins go back to the 12th century, when a charitable institution for the sick and poor was founded near the Rhône bridge, and it grew into one of the major hospitals of France. Its present long façade, 375 metres of classical architecture along the quay, was designed by Jacques-Germain Soufflot from 1741, the architect who later designed the Panthéon in Paris. The central dome, rebuilt in the 18th century, is a landmark of the riverside. The hospital is associated with the writer François Rabelais, who worked as a physician here in the 1530s and published Pantagruel in Lyon. Its medical teaching tradition and the care of the sick continued until the hospital closed in 2010. After a restoration and conversion programme, the building reopened in 2018 as a mixed development with shops, offices, a hotel and the Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie de Lyon, which presents the culinary heritage of the city and of French cuisine, recognised by UNESCO in 2010. The conversion preserved the courtyards, arcades and the dome, and the inner courtyards are open to the public as covered or open walkways. A small museum of the hospital's history, the Musée des Hospices Civils de Lyon, displays pharmacy jars, medical instruments and paintings in a historic apothecary. The riverside setting makes it an easy stop on a walk along the Rhône quays, next to the Pont de la Guillotière and a short walk from Place Bellecour. Restaurants, cafés and boutiques in the arcades are open daily, while the Cité's exhibition spaces charge separate admission.