Once a hospital and now a charming local history and art museum, the Hospice Comtesse Museum is a little Lillois gem. The museum is located in the heart of Lille’s old town.
Founded in 1237 by Joan of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders for the ailing inhabitants of Lille, the rambling edifice is a maze of rooms where old wards follow onto a chapel and a nunnery.
Within these quaint and sanitary walls some superb collections are displayed. Exhibits include old Dutch, Flemish and French masters from the 15th to 18th centuries, along with Lillois gold and silver metalwork, earthenware and a delightful musical instrument collection: the Hel collection.
The main focus of the museum, however, is local history. It retraces the story of Lille and the surrounding Pas-de-Calais region in a series of religious iconographies and a delicate and informative selection of Watteaus.
Visitors can also learn about the day-to-day life of the Augustine monks, who patiently nursed Lille’s sick and ran the hospital in the 17th and 18th centuries. A special section is dedicated to the upheavals and triumphs of the revolution, told through a variety of objects from the time.
The museum is located in the heart of Lille’s old town and is open Wednesday – Sundays.
Adress: 18bis rue de Valmy 59000 LILLE
Photo: Palais des beaux arts by Thomas Claveirole’s
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