The Bicêtre Hospital is located in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre

Le Kremlin-Bicêtre

Le Kremlin-Bicêtre is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe....

, which is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It lies 4.5 km (2.8 miles) from the center of Paris. The Bicêtre Hospital was originally planned as a military hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

, with construction begun in 1634. With the help of Vincent de Paul

Vincent de Paul

Vincent de Paul was a priest of the Catholic Church who became dedicated to serving the poor. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He was canonized in 1737....

, it was finally opened as an orphanage

Orphanage

An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...

 in 1642. It was incorporated into the Hôpital Général in 1656. In 1823, it was called the Hospice de la Vieillesse Hommes. In 1885, it was renamed the Hospice de Bicêtre. In its history it has been used successively and simultaneously as an orphanage, a prison

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

, a lunatic asylum

Psychiatric hospital

Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...

, and a hospital. Its most notorious guest was the Marquis de Sade

Marquis de Sade

Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...

. http://europaphe.aphp.fr/en/f_idf_bice.html http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/mhhtim.htm

The Bicêtre is most famous as the Asylum de Bicêtre where Superintendent Philippe Pinel

Philippe Pinel

Philippe Pinel was a French physician who was instrumental in the development of a more humane psychological approach to the custody and care of psychiatric patients, referred to today as moral therapy...

 is credited as being the first to introduce humane methods into the treatment of the mentally ill, in 1793.

The Bicêtre is referenced in The Birth of the Asylum from Foucault

Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...

's Madness and Civilization. In it, Pinel's methods are classified as more devious than humane.