Paris
The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital was named after the old canon powder plant that used to be there before the 17th century. Indeed, the powder was made of saltpetre (salpêtre in French). In the 17th century, King Louis XIV decided to change the place into a hospital that could welcome all the beggars and the vagabonds of Paris. In 1670, following his architect Vauban's idea, the King had a church built and then in 1684 a women's jail (The Force Building). The female common rights prisoners were put there as they were waiting to be transferred to Louisiana or Canada to populate the former French colonies. Numerous other buildings were erected after that, in a style which contrasts with the initial one, thus perturbing the beauty of the site.
The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital is the biggest hospital of Paris and even Europe.
Many medical researchers work here, some of them being the most famous in the world for their discoveries.