Museum of the Armed Forces Health Service

You are arriving at the Val-de-Grâce, a monumental site that served as a royal Benedictine abbey before transforming into the heart of French military medicine. Queen Anne of Austria commissioned the construction of this abbey in sixteen twenty-four following the birth of her son, the future King Louis the Fourteenth. The architecture you see reflects this grand origin, organized around a vast cloister with two levels of arcaded galleries that still stand today. During the French Revolution, the site transitioned from a religious sanctuary into a military hospital, a purpose it has maintained for centuries.