Pitie Salpetriere

By on 20/08/2010 in Paris

Paris night view

Paris night view

The Pitie Salpetriere Hospital (Groupe hospitalier de la Pitie-Salpetriere) is a world-renowned teaching hospital located in Paris, France. Part of the Assistance publique – Hopitaux de Paris, it is one of Europe’s largest hospitals.

History

The Salpetriere was originally a gunpowder factory (“salpetre” being a constituent of gunpowder), but was converted to a dumping ground for the poor of Paris. It served as a prison for prostitutes, and a holding place for the mentally disabled, criminally insane, epileptics, and the poor; it was also notable for its famous population of rats.

Front View of Pitie Salpetriere Hospital in Paris France by chups.jussieu

Front View of Pitie Salpetriere Hospital in Paris France by chups.jussieu

In 1656, Louis XIV charged the architect Liberal Bruant to build a hospital on the location of the factory, founding the Hospice de la Salpetriere. The building was expanded in 1684.

By the eve of the Revolution, it had become the world’s largest hospital, with a capacity of 10,000 patients plus 300 prisoners, largely prostitutes swept from the streets of Paris. From La Salpetriere they were paired with convicts and forcibly expatriated to New France.

During the September massacres of 1792, the Salpetriere was stormed on the night of 3/4 September by a mob from the impoverished working-class district of the Faubourg Saint-Marcel, with the avowed intention of releasing the detained street-girls; 134 of the prostitutes were released; twenty-five madwomen were less fortunate and were dragged, some still in their chains, into the streets and murdered. Madame Roland, a Girondin supporter of the Revolution in its first liberalising stages, recorded in her Memoirs that the Revolution “has been stained by villains and become hideous”.

In the first half of the 19th century, the first humanitarian reforms in the treatment of the violently insane were initiated here by Philippe Pinel, friend of the Encyclopedistes; his sculptural monument stands before the main entrance in Place Marie Curie, Boulevard de L’Hôpital. Later, when Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot took over the department, the Salpetriere became world famous as a psychiatric centre. Charcot is often credited as the founder of modern neurology. His teaching activities on the Salpetriere’s wards helped to elucidate the natural history and pathophysiology of many human illnesses including neurosyphilis, epilepsy, and stroke. Students came from all over Europe to listen to Charcot’s lectures. Among them was a young Sigmund Freud.

The Pitie Salpetriere is now a general teaching hospital with departments focusing on most major medical specialities.

Numerous celebrities have been treated at the Salpetriere, including Michael Schumacher, Ronaldo,Prince Rainier of Monaco, Alain Delon and Gerard Depardieu. Former president Jacques Chirac had a pacemaker fitted at the Salpetriere in 2008 .

Diana, Princess of Wales died at the Salpetriere in 1997, as did Josephine Baker in 1975.

Famous doctors

Through its history, the Pitie-Salpetriere hosted famous doctors, among others:

Pitie Salpetriere Map and Street Tour:

(Please put the yellow man icon on the map to see original photo of the place and start street tour…)

[mappress mapid="33"]

Pitie Salpetriere is located in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. So, you may want to see;

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