Bicêtre

The Hôpital Bicêtre, located on the Left Bank, in XIIIe arrondissement of Paris, France, was originally planned as a military hospital, with construction begun in 1634. With the help of Vincent de Paul, it was finally opened as an orphanage in 1642. It was incorporated into the Hôpital Général in 1656. In 1823, it was called the Hospice de la Vieillesse Hommes. In 1885, it was renamed the Hospice de Bicêtre. In its history it has been used successively and simultaneously as an orphanage, a prison, a lunatic asylum (see Psychiatric hospital) and a hospital. Its most notorious guest was the Marquis de Sade [1] [2]

The Bicêtre is most famous as the Asylum de Bicêtre where Superintendent Philippe Pinel is credited as being the first to introduce humane methods into the treatment of the mentally ill, in 1793.

The vicinity of Paris surrounding the Bicêtre is known as the Kremlin-Bicêtre [3]. This is a consequence of the Bicêtre acting as a major reception point, in 1813, for evacuated casualties of the Grand Armée from Napoleon's doomed 1812 invasion of Russia.