Hôpital de la Charité

Hôpital de la Charité ("Charity Hospital") was a hospital in Paris founded in the 17th century and closed in 1935.

History

The Infirmary of the Hospital of Charity, c. 1639; by Abraham Bosse

Map of the hospitals of Paris in 1820

In 1606, Marie de Médicis invited the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God to come to France. The Abbot of Saint-Germain-des-Prés granted them the use of its former Saint-Père chapel, which they repaired. They were later given the chapel and its attached cemetery outright.

In 1613, work started on the construction of major hospital structures. The old chapel was demolished and a new one was established in July 1621 by the Archbishop of Embrun. It was renovated in the middle of the 17th century, and in 1732 it received its great portal designed by the architect Jules-Robert de Cotte.^[1] The rue Turenne façade was designed by Destouches.^[2] The chapel still stands at the corner of the boulevard Saint-Germain and the rue des Saints-Pères. The French National Academy of Medicine had its offices in this chapel from 1850 to 1902.

The original buildings of the Hôpital de la Charité were demolished around 1935 to make place for the new Faculté de médecine de Paris.

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