Hôtel-Dieu, the name given to the principal hospital in any French town. The Hôtel-Dieu in Paris was founded in the year A.D. 660, has been extended at various times, and was entirely rebuilt between 1868-1878. One of the most ancient in France is at Angers, dating from 1153. The Hôtel-Dieu of Beaune (Côte-d’Or), founded 1443, is one of the most interesting, as it retains the picturesque disposition of its courtyard, with covered galleries on two storeys and large dormer windows; and the great hall of the Hôtel-Dieu at Tonnerre, Yonne (1338), nearly 60 ft. wide and over 300 ft. long, is still preserved as part of the chief hospital of the town.

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