Guided tour of the Zuydcoote Maritime Hospital site
Come and discover the Sanatorium of Zuydcoote: Founded by Georges Vancauwenberghe and inaugurated on July 25, 1910, the sanatorium of Zuydcoote welcomed since 1914 about 1,400 children. It was self-sufficient, with three farms providing the necessary resources. During the two world wars, the hospital was transformed into a military hospital. It was also a key location for Operation Dynamo, during the boarding of British and French forces. Integrated into the German defense line, the sanatorium was in ruins at the end of the Second World War. It became a national sanatorium in 1924 and became a maritime hospital in 1962. Zuydcoote was one of the first French establishments to combine balneotherapy and thalassotherapy. In 1969, balneotherapy, supplied with sea water, was introduced with five treatment basins. Today, only a few original buildings remain, the others having been rebuilt after 1946. The hospital has specialized in functional rehabilitation, thus responding to changing medical needs.