Hospice de Hautefort (Musée de la Médecine)
Standing directly opposite the château entrance, the 18th-century hospice built by Marie de Hautefort is one of the most beautiful and least visited buildings in the village — a perfectly proportioned baroque quadrangle with a domed chapel that would not look out of place in Paris. Inside, a small but genuinely fascinating museum traces the history of medicine from bloodletting to early surgery, w
The Building
Marie de Hautefort, a famous beauty and confidante of Louis XIII, commissioned the hospice in 1669 as an act of charity for the local poor. The architecture is restrained and elegant — a covered cloister wraps around a central courtyard, and the chapel dome is the finest piece of 17th-century religious architecture in this part of the Dordogne.
The building remained a functioning hospital until the 1970s, which explains the remarkable survival of original medical furniture, apothecary cabinets and treatment rooms that form the basis of the museum collection.
The Museum
The Musée de la Médecine displays surgical instruments, pharmacy jars, obstetric models and early anaesthetic equipment arranged in period rooms that have changed little since the 19th century. It is morbidly compelling in the best possible way.
Because it sits literally across the road from the château, most visitors walk past without a second glance — which means you will almost certainly have the cloister and courtyard entirely to yourself, even in peak summer.
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