Hôtel-Dieu des Hospices de Beaune

Built in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, the chancellor to Philippe-le-Bon, and used as a hospital until 1971, this magnificent Gothic hospital building is famously topped by stunning turrets and pitched rooftops covered in multicoloured tiles. Fascinating interior highlights include the barrel-vaulted Grande Salle (look for the dragons and peasant heads up on the roof beams); the mural-covered St-Hughes Room; an 18th-century pharmacy where the nuns made their own medicaments and which is lined with flasks once filled with volatile oils, unguents, elixirs and powders such as beurre d'antimoine (antimony butter) and poudre de cloportes (woodlouse powder); the huge kitchens, with their open hearths; and the 16th-century Flanders tapestry of St Eloi. Do not miss the brilliant Polyptych of the Last Judgement by the Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden. Created in the 15th century, this multipanelled masterpiece combines the lush colours of rainbows, the harsh results of the final judgement and a powerful, enigmatic yet serene Archangel Michael.