DE BRAQUEVILLE A MARCHANT, UNE ARCHITECTURE MODELE AU SERVICE DU SOIN

For a long time, the senile and other insane were locked up in disastrous conditions. After the Revolution, Philippe Pinel, a doctor at the Bicêtre hospital near Paris, demonstrated that "madness" could be thought of as a disease and advocated the creation of "asylums", a term meaning "refuges". Jean-Etienne Esquirol, from Toulouse, was one of his most fervent followers and helped to change the status of patients. On 30 June 1838, a law was passed requiring each département to set up a public psychiatric hospital.

This exclusive tour opens the doors to a functional architectural structure inaugurated in 1852 and designed to treat mental disorders. It was designed by doctors Jean-Baptiste Delaye and Gérard Marchant, heirs of Jean-Etienne Esquirol. They drew up an architectural concept in symbiosis with their medical programme. The town's architect, Jacques-Jean Esquié, applied this concept brilliantly.

You are immersed in a grandiose and little-known space. The first thing that strikes you is the setting, on the outskirts of Toulouse: the countryside allows the hospital to extend over 25 hectares to accommodate 500 patients. The choice of an isolated location outside the city was essential. It facilitates the foundations of moral and agricultural work, while guaranteeing clean air and a sense of security.

So, once you've passed through the monumental gate flanked by elegant arcades, you're likely to be surprised by the main courtyard, the chapel and the alleys lined with brick pavilions.

Thanks to the guide's enlightening talk, you'll discover a real small town: from the Pyrenees wing to the outside workshops (cobbler's or baker's), this gentle cultural extravaganza won't leave you indifferent...

Visit in partnership with the Gérard-Marchant hospital.