Quartier Val de Grâce

The Quartier du Val-de-Grâce is the nineteenth district of Paris's 5th arrondissement, stretching between Boulevard Saint-Michel to the west and Rue Mouffetard to the east. It takes its name from the historic Val-de-Grâce Abbey, around which the neighborhood developed. In late antiquity, this area was farmland south of the city walls, and Paris did not expand in this direction again until the seventeenth century, when a convent was built to plans by François Mansart. After the convent was closed during the Revolution, the site served a variety of purposes, including a military medical school and a reformatory for girls. Today an academic atmosphere defines the neighborhood, which is home to numerous renowned teaching and research institutions, including the École normale supérieure, the Institut Curie, and various technical and art schools. Among the main sights are the church of Notre-Dame du Val-de-Grâce and the historic abbey, which was made available to the hospital in 1979 after the hospital had moved into a new building.