Hôpital Saint-Louis

King Henri the Fourth ordered the construction of Hôpital Saint-Louis in sixteen hundred and seven to act as a desperate measure against a rampant bubonic plague. Because the existing city hospital was overwhelmed and unable to contain the spread of the disease, the king established this facility on what was then the outskirts of Paris. The site was intentionally chosen to isolate infected patients far from the dense population centers of the capital.