The invalid ward is one of the oldest and biggest hospital monuments of medie val France. It was built through a foundation of Marguerite de Bourgogne (sister-in-law of king Saint-Louis) who retired in Tonnerre in 1287, at 37 years old, after the death of her husband, Charles d'Anjou, king of Naples and of Jerusalem.

The building took three years and was finished in 1293. Its proportions are imposing - it is 101 meters long (today 90 m after the 18th century modifications), 18, 50 m wide and almost 20 m high.

The panelled ceiling and the gigantic framework looking like an upside down ship hull, are made with oak coming from the Maulnes forest - as the stones of the walls. Originally, the 4500 m2 roof was covered with glazed tiles.

The only ward could accommodate 20 sick people, the beds lining the walls and separated by wood partitions - this number was sufficient for a small town like Tonnerre. Over the alcoves run a gallery from which the sick were looked over. Everyday, a mass was celebrated over the altar of the ward.

Near the hospital, Marguerite de Bourgogne built her own house, today totally destroyed - there are a few fragments of enamelled tiles from this building in the hospital museum. In the center of the ward, we can see a mausoleum built in 1828 on the site where the queen was buried in 1308, in a brass and bronze tomb destroyed in 1793, during the French Revolution.

Over the main altar of the chapel, there is a "Virgin Mary with the burning bush", nice specimen of the statuary of the 14th century Burgundy and Champagne borders.

On the floor, we can see a curious astronomical feature: a gnomon (1784).

In a lateral sacristy we can see a pathetic "Entombment" (1454), one of the oldest in Europe.

 Visiting hours :

From Easter to November 1st, on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays
from 13h30 to 18h30
From June to September, everyday except Tuesdays
from 10h to 12 h and from 13h30 to 18h30