The dome of the Val-de-Grâce rises above the Fifth Arrondissement with a profile inspired by Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Anne of Austria commissioned this church in sixteen forty-five after the birth of her son, the future King Louis the Fourteenth. She sought a grand sanctuary to fulfill a vow of gratitude. The structure replaced an older abbey and served as a royal chapel where the hearts of French royals were once preserved in silver cases before the French Revolution scattered them.
Catholic Church of the Val-de-Grâce
religious