"Urbi et
orbi salus" (Health to the City and the World) is the device for the Paris
Faculty of Medicine.
I had the
opportunity to visit the “Ecole de Médecine” accompanied by a retired medical
doctor and a chief librarian. I could listen to a lot of medical history and
thought I should try to relate a bit of what I remember.
When universities
started to appear in Europe during the 11th and 12th
centuries, Medicine was one of the sciences, under control by the Church. It
was however only during the latter part of the 15th century that a
special school building was created in Paris, Rue de la Bûcherie, on the corner
of what then was called the Rue des Rats. (Yes, rats were frequent here, the
Seine river flooded…). This place was an
obvious choice, as it was in the immediate neighbourhood of the hospital “Hôtel Dieu”, with
7th century origins and which occupied space in front of Notre
Dame and later also on the opposite side of the Seine branch, linked by a
bridge (Pont au Double). These hospital buildings disappeared during the latter
part of the 19th century and the present hospital “Hôtel Dieu” was
built, again close to the Notre Dame.
The school
building is still there, of course not quite in its original shape – today occupied
by some Paris City administration. One can especially notice the amphitheatre
from 1745.
These
premises were however abandoned a few decades later… and the Medical sciences
were spread out to different places until they moved to what now is called
the Rue de l’Ecole du Médecine.
I made a
comparison between a 1790 city plan and “Google Earth”, which hopefully
explains where the buildings are or were. …
Schools Hôtel Dieu
… and this
illustration should help to find the places referred to below.
It’s maybe
necessary to say a few words about what used to be the difference between “medicine”
and “surgery”. Medical Doctors were since
the 13th century on dictate by the Church not allowed to intervene
physically on patients, to let blood flow… This job was left to “barber-surgeons”
who executed on their own or were directed by the Medical Doctors. This was also the
separation during anatomy lessons. However, surgery slowly became accepted as a
proper and important discipline – thanks to fortunate surgery interventions on some
royals.
On Rue de l’Ecole de Médecine you can still (at no. 5) find an
amphitheatre, constructed for the surgeons, 1691-94, with special concern about
the light. (Later it became an art school and today you learn English here.)
The surgical
activities moved in 1775 to a “Ecole de Chirurgie” (Surgery School) on the
opposite side of the street (no. 12), built 1669-74, in an antique Greek style.
The building became an “Ecole de Médecine” in 1795 when surgery also became a
medical discipline.
The
original building is now the central part of a much larger complex, where
additional buildings were added 1878-1905 with a long façade towards Boulevard
Saint Germain.
Some photos
from the inside:
First the amphitheatre,
part of the central original building. Different from the previous amphitheatres,
this is only a half circle. It originally had a roof hole open to rain – now covered.
Light was important.
The part of
the complex which was later added offers some fantastic halls and staircases.
On a wall I could find the original large painting representing Doctor Charcot
(see previous post about the hospital Salpêtrière).
The walls
of the large directorate room are decorated by tapestries from Louis XIV’s
bedroom at Versailles!!
The large library
offers some 400 thousand books and works from the 14th century and
later, some 500 thousand medical theses… , but the students all sit in front of a PC
screen.
Since the
1950’s there are hardly any lectures given in these buildings, which, except
for the library, are rather related to the administration of the Faculty René
Descartes.
This is also the case with the Ecole de Médecine buildings on the opposite side of the
street which house the administration of the Faculty Pierre and Marie Curie. Until
the Revolution you found here a Franciscan monastery, the “Couvent des
Cordeliers”. During the revolutionary years it became the meeting place for the
“Club des Cordeliers” (Danton, Marat, Desmoulins…). Later, almost all has been
rebuilt, partly designed to refer to the old convent style, some green space, a
lot of statues…
Of the old buildings remains only the old refectory where I
could not enter as there was a “fashion week” event. I could however climb the
steps of the old tower stairs.
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