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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The hospital of the Salpêtrière came into being in 1634, when a saltpetre (cannon powder) factory was established by Sieur Rebattier on land acquired from Saint-Victor Abbey, near the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Unprofitable, it was ceded in 1639 and then bought by the king in 1656. Louis XIV entrusted Libéral Bruand with the transformation of the premises into a hospital, with works beginning in 1658 under Antoine Duval, then taken over in 1669 by Louis Le Vau. The Salpêtrière then became the largest establishment of the Hôpital général de Paris, intended for the "containment" of beggars, poor women and prostitutes, some of whom were sent to New France as "Daughters of the King". In 1684, a house of force was added, transforming the site into a place of detention for women convicted or deemed immoral.

Until the 18th century, the Salpêtrière had no medical vocation: its patients were sent to the Hôtel-Dieu. Faced with the saturation of the latter, letters patent of 1780 prohibited their admission, and a 300-bed infirmary was built in 1787. Charles François Viel (1781-1801) modernized the establishment, which in 1801 welcomed old women and alienates, under the influence of doctors like Pinel and Esquirol, pioneers of the moral treatment of mental illnesses. In the 19th century, the school of the Salpêtrière, led by Jean-Martin Charcot, became a major centre of neurology and hypnosis. The site is also known for its annual dances, such as the "Ball of the Crazy", attracting the Parisian elite.

The Salpêtrière merged in 1964 with the Hospital of Pity, forming the Hospital of Pity-Salpêtrière, today the largest in Europe with 90 buildings on 33 hectares. Ranked a historic monument in 1976 for its chapel Saint-Louis (1670-1677) and several pavilions, it also houses the Institute of Brain and Spinal Cord since 2010. Its architecture, marked by figures like Liberal Bruand and Louis Le Vau, reflects its evolution from a place of repression to a medical center of excellence, while preserving traces of its prison and social past.

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