Hôpital Saint-Louis is a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France. It was built in 1611 by architect

Claude Vellefaux Claude Vellefaux was a 16th/17th-century French architect, who had the Hôpital Saint-Louis built in 1611 at the request of Henry IV of France. Biography Vellefaux was qualified as a master mason in 1585, sworn by the king as responsible of maso ...

at the request of Henry IV of France. It is part of the

Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris Assistance is an act of helping behavior. Assistance may also refer to: Types of help * Aid, in international relations, a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another * Assistance dog, a dog trained to aid or assist a person ...

hospital system, and it is located at 1 avenue Claude-Vellefaux, in the 10th arrondissement near the

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

station

Goncourt The Goncourt brothers (, , ) were Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896) and Jules de Goncourt (1830–1870), both French naturalism writers who, as collaborative sibling authors, were inseparable in life. Background Edmond and Jules were born to m ...

. It was founded by King Henry IV (1553–1610) (King of France and Navarre) on May 17, 1607 to relieve the

Hôtel-Dieu de Paris In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu ( en, hostel of God) was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris b ...

during the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

. It was named ''St. Louis'' in memory of

Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...

, who died of the

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

that devastated

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

in 1270. Today, Hôpital Saint-Louis uses its historical premises (parts of which are classified as historical monuments) for administrative functions. Following the 1980s new modern additions were made to house the current hospital and

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

. Its primary specialties are

dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medical ...

and

hematology Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

, as well as

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

. The dermatology library was founded by Dr Henri Feulard. The hospital employs 2,500 people, one thousand of whom are in the medical profession. It houses the INSERM Institute of Research on Skin and the René Touraine Foundation. The south-west entrance to the hospital, located at the intersection of rue Bichat and avenue Richerand, is popularly known as the entrance to the police station in the hit French detective television series Navarro.

History

Hôpital Saint-Louis was built at the beginning of the 17th century on the orders of King

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

, who signed an edict founding the hospital on May 17, 1607. It was initially intended to only serve as a temporary hospital during epidemic to quarantine afflicted Parisians who could be contagious. It was also situated just outside the

Wall of Charles V The wall of Charles V, built from 1356 to 1383 is one of the city walls of Paris. It was built on the right bank of the river Seine outside the wall of Philippe Auguste. In the 1640s, the western part of the wall of Charles V was demolished and r ...

beyond Porte du Temple. It was constructed in the proximity of the

Gibbet of Montfaucon The Gibbet of Montfaucon (french: Gibet de Montfaucon) was the main gallows and gibbet of the Kings of France until the time of Louis XIII of France. It was used to execute criminals, often traitors, by hanging and to display their dead bodies as ...

, as seen by an engraving of the hospital by

Claude Chastillon Claude Chastillon or Chatillon (1559 or 1560 – 27 April 1616) was a French architect, military engineer, military and civil engineer, and topographer, topographical Drawing, draughtsman, who served under Henry IV of France. His most notable work ...

. Construction was fairly quick, and was carried out using plans by Claude Vellfaux or Claude Chastillon, with work starting on the chapel. On Friday, July 13, 1607, the king laid the first stone, and Antoine Le Mercier lead the construction efforts. image:Chapelle St-Louis 051.jpg, Entrance to the hospital on rue Juliette-Dodu. File:P1170819 Paris X hôpital Saint-Louis chapelle rwk.jpg, Interior of the chapel.

Wax museum

The hospital played an important role in the study of dermatology since the 19th century and holds a wax museum of dermatological diseases.(fr) Musée des moulages dermatologiques de l'hôpital Saint-Louis
website hôpital-Saint-Louis.aphp.fr.

References

External links

Website of the hospital
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopital Saint-Louis Saint-Louis Hospital buildings completed in the 17th century Buildings and structures in the 10th arrondissement of Paris Hospitals established in the 17th century