I first visited Saint-Paul-de-Mausole years ago while tracing the footsteps of Van Gogh in Saint-Rémy. The former monastery, now a private hospital, is where Van Gogh lived from May 1889 to May 1890, creating more than 150 paintings — including The Starry Night, Irises, and The Olive Trees.
When new rooms were later opened to visitors, I was anxious to return to see what had changed. The additions reveal a deeper look into the building’s history and the people who once lived within its stone walls.
Van Gogh’s Year in Saint-Rémy
When Van Gogh arrived in Saint-Rémy, the 12th-century monastery had been converted into a psychiatric hospital run by monks and nuns. He entered voluntarily after he, infamously, cut off part of his own ear following a dispute with Paul Gauguin. He had spent several weeks in the hospital at Arles, then chose to seek long-term care away from the public.
After the breakdown in Arles, Van Gogh was given two adjoining rooms — one for sleeping and another as a studio. From his window, he could see a walled wheat field bordered by cypress and olive trees, with the Alpilles hills beyond.
Despite recurring illness, his time here became one of the most productive periods of his life. His letters to his brother Theo describe the Provençal light that filled his paintings with renewed calm and structure.
Today, visitors can walk through a recreation of Van Gogh’s bedroom and studio, the cloisters, and the chapel, and wander through gardens still planted much as they were in his time. The view from his window — the wheat field and the mountains — remains nearly unchanged.
Inside the Once Hidden Rooms
Recent restoration at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole opened areas of the complex that were long closed to the public. Among them is a modest room that reveals an unexpected and interesting coincidence: Dr. Albert Schweitzer, a theologian, musician, and recipient of the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize, and his wife, Hélène Bresslau Schweitzer, once lived here while she was being treated for tuberculosis.
The Schweitzers had founded their hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon, years earlier; illness brought Hélène back to Europe for care.
Their quarters remain as they were — a simple room with Schweitzer’s upright piano, medical and theological books, and glass bottles from his laboratory work neatly arranged on wooden shelves.
Finding their living space preserved within the same walls that sheltered Van Gogh adds another layer to the story of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole — a place where art, faith, and healing.
The Legacy of Van Gogh in Saint-Rémy
Saint-Paul-de-Mausole is more than a stop on the Van Gogh trail. Standing inside those quiet rooms, it’s easy to imagine the days he spent here — painting, recovering, watching the light move across the fields. The setting feels much the same today.
The newly opened rooms add another layer to the story. They remind us that this place was never just about one man’s struggle or genius. Others came here for care and found comfort behind the same stone walls.
For anyone visiting Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, this site still carries a rare calm. It’s part of what makes the town so appealing — beauty mixed with history. Not polished — always real. As for Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, it isn’t a museum; it’s a glimpse of life as it was, and still is in some ways, in Provence.
If You Go
- Saint-Paul-de-Mausole
- Avenue Dr Edmond-Delord, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
- Open daily; hours vary by season. Entry costs about €7.
Allow around an hour to explore the historic sections: Van Gogh’s rooms, the chapel and cloisters, the gardens, and the preserved Schweitzer quarters.
The rest of the site remains a working medical facility and is closed to the public.
One Response
so interesting deborah. is patricia in the photo with you?