Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital

The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital is currently a hospital in Paris.

History

It was originally a gunpowder factory ("Saltpeter" being a constituent of gunpowder), but was converted to a kind of dumping ground for the poor of Paris. Eventually it served as a prison for prostitutes, a holding place for the mentally disabled and the poor and its famous population of rats.

During the French Revolutionary period, it was stormed by the mob and the prostitutes released, but others (probably madwomen) were less fortunate and were murdered. Since the Revolution, La Salpêtrière served as an insane asylum and a hospital for women.

Diana, Princess of Wales died in the Salpêtrière.