right|150px|thumb|Mazarin entrance to the Pitié-Salpêtrière HospitalThe '''Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital''' (''Groupe hospitalier de la Pitié-Salpétrière'') is a world-renowned teaching hospital located in Paris, France. Part of the Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, it is one of Europe's largest hospitals<ref>http://www.paris-region.com/ard_uk/upload/document/D176.pdf</ref>. 

==History==
The Salpêtrière was originally a gunpowder factory ("''salpêtre''" being a constituent of gunpowder), but was converted to a dumping ground for the poor of Paris. It served as a prison for prostitutes, and a holding place for the mentally disabled, criminally insane, epileptics, and the poor; it was also notable for its famous population of rats.

In 1656, Louis XIV charged the architect Libéral Bruant to build a hospital on the location of the factory, founding the ''Hospice de la Salpêtrière''. The building was expanded in 1684.

By the eve of the Revolution, it had become the world's largest hospital, with a capacity of 10,000 patients plus 300 prisoners, largely prostitutes swept from the streets of Paris. From La Salpêtrière they were paired with convicts and forcibly expatriated to New France. 

During the September massacres of 1792, the Salpêtrière was stormed on the night of 3/4 September by a mob from the impoverished working-class district of the Faubourg Saint-Marcel, with the avowed intention of releasing the detained street-girls;  134 of the prostitutes were released; twenty-five madwomen were less fortunate and were dragged, some still in their chains, into the streets and murdered.<ref>The episode is discussed in detail by Mary Bosworth, "Anatomy of a Massacre: Gender, Power, and Punishment in Revolutionary Paris" ''Violence Against Women'', '''7'''.10, (2001:1101-1121).</ref> Madame Roland, a ''Girondin'' supporter of the Revolution in its first liberalising stages, recorded in her ''Memoirs''  that the Revolution "has been stained by villains and become hideous".<ref>[http://www.paris.org/Kiosque/sep98/la.salpetriere.html Thirza Vallois, "Paris Kiosque: La Salpêtrière"]</ref> 

In the first half of the 19th century, the first humanitarian reforms in the treatment of the violently insane were initiated here by Encyclopédistes''; his sculptural monument stands before the main entrance in Place Marie-Curie, Boulevard de L'Hôpital. Later, when Dr. neurosyphilis, epilepsy, and stroke. Students came from all over Europe to listen to Charcot's lectures. Among them was a young student by the name of Sigmund Freud.
 
The Pitié-Salpêtrière is now a general teaching hospital with departments focusing on most major medical specialities.

Numerous celebrities have been treated at the Salpêtrière, including Michael Schumacher<ref>[http://www.fia.com/automotive/issue5/institute/article1.html Interview with Professor Gérard Saillant]</ref>, Ronaldo<ref>[http://www.fia.com/automotive/issue5/institute/article1.html Interview with Professor Gérard Saillant]</ref>, Prince Rainier of Monaco<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4381967.stm Prince Rainier health "worrying"]</ref>, Alain Delon and Gerard Depardieu <ref>[http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-30-2002-25521.asp A Survivor of the Painful Road to Hell and Back]</ref>. Former president Jacques Chirac had a pacemaker fitted at the Salpetriere in 2008 <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7343096.stm BBC NEWS | Europe | France's Chirac gets pacemaker<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>.

Diana, Princess of Wales died in the Salpêtrière<ref>[http://www.emergency.com/dianaded.htm Series of Real-Time Reports involving the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, as well as Josephine Baker.

Het '''Hôpital de la Salpêtrière''' in Parijs was een van de belangrijkste en bekendste centra voor psychiatrie en neurologie in Europa.

Het Hôpital de la Salpêtrière werd gebouwd in opdracht van koning Lodewijk XIV. Het werd eerst gebruikt als salpeterfabriek (vandaar de naam: salpeter wordt gebruikt bij de productie van buskruit). Na enige jaren werd het gebouw in gebruik genomen als opvoed- en opvangcentrum voor geestelijk gestoorde vrouwen en prostituees. Mannen werden in andere instellingen behandeld.

Het ziekenhuis kwam in de tweede helft van de negentiende eeuw tot grote bloei, met name door het baanbrekende werk dat directeur dissociatieve aandoeningen en werd uitgebreid onderzoek gedaan naar de toepassing van hypnose. Ook werden neurologische aandoeningen als epilepsie, amyotrofe laterale sclerose en multiple sclerose bestudeerd en beschreven. 

Vele inmiddels bekende namen waren werkzaam of studeerden aan het Salpêtrière, waaronder Pierre Janet, Jules Cotard, Georges Gilles de la Tourette, Pierre Marie, Sigmund Freud, Joseph Babinski, Philippe Pinel en Alfred Binet. 