Val-de-Grâce Church - Part One

Anne d'Autriche (Anne of Austria - Spanish branch of the Habsburg), wife of Louis XIII had pledged to build a magnificent temple if God gave her a son, ie a heir to the throne.

She did have a son, and it is Louis XIV himself who laid down the first stone of the magnificent Val de Grâce church in 1645. The royal abbey became a military hospital during the French Revolution, which in the end, saved it from destruction unlike many other abbeys or convents.

In the 1970's, the military hospital was modernised and was known as one of the best in France. Both presidents François Mitterand and later Jacques Chirac were taken care of in the prestigious establishment. Stay tuned and brace yourself for part deux with the inside of the church in an upcoming post...