Hôtel-Dieu de Paris fires

Hôtel-Dieu de Paris

The Hôtel-Dieu de Paris (French pronunciation: ​[ɔtɛl djø də paʁi]) is regarded as the oldest hospital in the city of Paris, France, and is the most central of the Assistance publique - hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) hospitals. The hospital is linked to the Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes. It still resides on the left bank of the Île de la Cité, next to Notre-Dame where the facility was originally built between the 7th and 17th centuries, with two buildings being linked by the pont au Double. Although the facility has been ravaged by disastrous fires on several occasions, the hospital remains in existence today (the current architecture dates back to 1877). As a symbol of charity and hospitality, it was the first hospital in Paris until the Renaissance.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hôtel-Dieu de Paris