Saint-Paul-de-Mausole near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence: a former monastery turned psychiatric hospital
Saint-Paul-de-Mausole near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is a former monastery turned psychiatric hospital. It was here that Vincent van Gogh admitted himself voluntarily in May 1889, a few months after cutting off part of his ear in Arles, and he spent a year here, until May 1890.
That year behind locked doors proved the most productive of Van Gogh's life. Within the hospital grounds, and on short walks under supervision, he painted 142 works. "The Starry Night", "Cypresses", "Irises" and other canvases known to everyone.
On many of the canvases the monastery and its surroundings are recognisable without the slightest effort: the same walls, the same olive trees and the same mountains on the horizon. The hospital still serves its original purpose, but one wing has been given over to a museum with Van Gogh's historic room
