It was founded in 1751 by King Louis XV and is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, southeast of the Champ de Mars.

The building, constructed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, is an active military academy and was classified as a national monument since 1990.

With the aim of creating an academic college for cadet officers from poor noble families, the exclusivity that royal military academies held vanished.

By the edict of January 1751, King Louis XV established the institution to provide education to five hundred young noblemen born without fortune.

Gabriel presented an immense area with beautiful façades and water running through a network of wells and pipes.