Bicêtre

Bicêtre, a celebrated hospital, situated on a little eminence in the southern neighbourhood of Paris, and commanding one of the finest views of the city, the Seine, and the environs. Founded by Louis IX. as a Carthusian monastery, it was acquired in 1290 by John, Bishop of Winchester (hence the name Bicêtre), and in 1632 it was destroyed, because it had become a hiding-place of thieves. Afterwards, it was rebuilt by Louis XIII., and made a hospital for old soldiers. It was for a long time used as a prison for criminals, but is now a hospital for indigent old men and for incurable lunatics.—Bicêtre is also the name of one of the sixteen detached forts that defend the approaches to the walls of Paris.