Belgium

Hôpital Notre-Dame à La Rose - Lessines

WHS Score 0.19
rate
Votes 8 Average 0.25
Show votes
Votes for Hôpital Notre-Dame à La Rose - Lessines

0

  • Alexander Lehmann
  • Astraftis
  • Christoph
  • Els Slots
  • Jean Lecaillon
  • J. Stevens

1

  • Argo
  • Daniel C-Hazard
The Hospital of Our Lady with the Rose was a hospital for the poor, dating from the 13th century. It has its origins as a charitable cause by the Flemish nobility. From the late 18th century ownership was transferred to the city and focus was transferred to patients from the local mines.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Hôpital Notre-Dame à La Rose - Lessines (ID: 6399)
Country
Belgium
Status
On tentative list 2019 Site history
History of Hôpital Notre-Dame à La Rose - Lessines
2019: Added to Tentative List
Added to tentative list
Criteria
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org

Community Information

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 08/08/19.

Els Slots

Hôpital Notre-Dame À La Rose - Lessines

Hôpital Notre-Dame à La Rose - Lessines (On tentative list)

Hôpital Notre-Dame à La Rose - Lessines by Els Slots

The Hospital of Our Lady with the Rose has been added to Belgium’s Tentative List earlier this year. The hospital of medieval origin is located in the Walloon town of Lessines, a municipality of 18,000 inhabitants best known as the birth place of painter René Magritte. I visited it on a stormy Saturday as a day trip by car from my home.

Getting There 

The site would become another addition to the Brussels Hotspot – it lies some 55 km south of the Belgian capital. The building is only open in the afternoon, from 14-18.30h, every day except Monday. As Zoe indicated in her review, there is parking right in front of it in a dead end street. However this was full when I arrived, so I ended up at a large (free) public parking just beyond the market square and within walking distance of the hospital. The hospital / museum complex has an informal restaurant on site, which opens already at 12. Entrance to the buildings / museum / gardens costs 13 EUR. French, English and Dutch are all spoken well by the reception staff and most information panels are in those 3 languages as well.

What is it about

The Hospital of Our Lady with the Rose was founded in the 13th century as a charity to accommodate the homeless and poor of the town. It formed a completely autarkic system: it had its own gardens, was a large regional landowner and handicrafts from …

Keep reading 0 comments
First published: 02/05/19.

Zoë Sheng

Hôpital Notre-Dame À La Rose - Lessines

Hôpital Notre-Dame à La Rose - Lessines (On tentative list)

Hôpital Notre-Dame à La Rose - Lessines by Zoë Sheng

Hôpital Notre-Dame à la Rose claims to be the oldest hospital in Europe. The only Wikipedia article is in Dutch for some reason when though the town of Lessines is in Wallonia. Superlatives don't always get you on the list and I think there needs to be more. It is more of a church-like hospital anyway, I often felt that I'm in a church altogether. The windows are beautiful, the architecture is great, from the outside you wouldn't think it is a hospital (a modern hospital is around the corner to compare).

Inside most is a museum with display cases and an art gallery. You get plenty to see and it's worth the money but I highly recommend the audio guide. The only issue with the site I have are the weird opening hours from 14:00-18:30 (last entry at 17:45!) and naturally closed on Mondays.

Pro tip: There is parking inside the alley so try there first before driving up the hill

Keep reading 0 comments