General Information

Constructed between 1645 and 1667, Val-de-Grâce is considered by some as Paris’s best example of Baroque architecture. Its exquisite interior is one of the few unspoiled remnants of Paris’s pre-Revolution grandeur. It was originally designed as a church and a cloister, but after the French Revolution it was converted into a military hospital.

Additional Information

The old abbey alongside the church is now a museum of French army medicine. Tours of the museum and church are available for a small fee (being a military facility, the grounds are under military guard and tourists are escorted). Cameras are not permitted except for inside the church itself.

History: Highlights

During the French Revolution, the Benedictine nuns from the church of the Val-de-Grâce provided medical care for the injured and therefore, the church was spared much of the desecration and vandalism that plagued other churches. Following the Revolution, the buildings were converted into a military hospital.

History: Explained

The present-day hospital was built in the 1970s and completed in 1979. It has a capacity of 350 beds, in various specialties. Currently, the original buildings only serve as offices and teaching facilities, while the actual medical facilities are inside a large modern building to the east on the same property.
The hospital is accessible to military personnel in need of medical aid, as well as to any person with health coverage under the French social security system. It is famous for being the place where top officials of the French Republic generally get treated for ailment. Among famous patients of the hospital was Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam, who died there in 1997.