Founded in 1175 with the support of Henri II Plantagenet according to a hospital program common in the Middle Ages (reception of all the needy; secular management, taken over by the Daughters of Charity in 1639), the Saint John Hospital provided a medical function until 1854\. It has been a museum since 1874\. The Patients' Room, a hall with three equal naves, is one of the points of development of the Angevin Gothic of the end XII°, by the quality of the proportions and the elegance of the structures (pointed vaults with thin ribs, very convex; sobriety of capitals with water leaves; slender columns). In 1967, it became the site of the exhibition of the «Chant du Monde», a group of tapestries by Jean Lurçat created in 1937 in homage to the «Apocalypse»; by extension, a museum of contemporary tapestry is installed in the outbuildings XVIII°.

Édifice religieux, Édifice hospitalier, Villes et Pays d'art et d'histoire, Musée de France, Monument historique, Musée, salle d'exposition, Site patrimonial remarquable

Access Free parking Place La Rochefoucauld Bus Station served