VAL-DE-GRÂCE
Located near the Luxembourg Gardens, the Val-de-Grâce is a student and cultural district.
A former religious stronghold of the capital, the district owes its name to the Val-de-Grâce abbey located on the Place Alphonse Laveran. A rare Parisian building in the Baroque style, this church was built by François Mansart on the orders of Queen Anne of Austria for the birth of Louis XIV. During the Revolution, the abbey became a military hospital, which has now been converted into a museum for the Army Medical Corps.
This district is also home to numerous university sites and research institutes such as the Curie Institute, one of the most important in France. Rue d’Ulm is home to the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, which has held a prominent place in the history of creation and design in France for many years. Restructured by the famous architects Philippe Starck and Luc Arsène-Henry in 2004, the building has a strong identity with its white Carrara marble façade.
