Château de Durtol - Former Sanatorium

Château de Durtol dates back to the 12th century. From 1898 it housed France’s first sanatorium, dedicated to treating “chest diseases”.

The château is the former property of the lords of Durtol. The original building was built in the 12th century then flanked by two round towers erected in the late 17th century.

Enchanted by the “essentially sedative climate” of Durtol, at 520 metres altitude, Charles Sabourin (1849-1920), a physician specialising in tuberculosis, bought the property in 1896 and created France’s first sanatorium there in 1898. He proposed a treatment based on three principles: rich, healthy food, continuous fresh air and rest. Surrounded by a park measuring 5 hectares, the château constituted the central part of the Sanatorium, with three adjoining lodges connected by galleries. Other buildings were added over the years for spa visitors and staff. The buildings featured different spaces, including a small room used as a laboratory, a spa gallery, bedrooms and cultural and entertainment spaces. Reputed worldwide, for a long time the site remained specialised in treating miners with silicosis or tuberculosis (respiratory illnesses).

From 1954 to 1955 the sanatorium housed Émilie Dubuffet, wife of the painter Jean Dubuffet. At the time the painter split his time between his workshop in Paris and Durtol, where he experimented with new subjects for his paintings, including village houses, landscapes and cows.

In 1955 the building was purchased by the Sécurité Sociale Médicale des Mines, but funds dwindled and the institution went into decline. To diversify its business, in 1975 the sanatorium became a cardiology and pneumology clinic. In 1999 renovations were carried out and most of the sanatorium’s buildings were destroyed, except the château. The new cardiology and pneumology clinic opened in July 2022.

The metropolitan area had another sanatorium, namely the former Sabourin hospital-sanatorium, converted into Clermont-Ferrand’s École nationale supérieure d’architecture (on rue du Docteur Bousquet).