It was built between 1824 and 1844 on the site where an earlier priory of Saint-Lazare had been located, at which Saint Vincent de Paul had founded the congregation of the Priests of the Mission, known as the Lazarists.

The architect who completed the building was Jacques-Ignace Hittorff, whose other major works included the Gare du Nord railway station.

[1] In the 12th century, the site was occupied by a Leper Colony, located in a marshy area on the road between Paris and the Basilica of Saint-Denis.

It became the home and workplace of Saint Vincent de Paul (1581–1660), who devoted his life to aiding the poor and sick.

Notable prisoners before the Revolution included the playwright and diplomat Pierre Beaumarchais and the social theorist Henri de Saint-Simon.

He was a member of the committee of artists and scientists, who travelled with Napoleon on his expedition to Egypt, where he drew the temples and monuments, and helped make the first study of the feasibility of the Suez Canal.

[5] In 1831, the project was taken over by Lepère's son-in-law, Jacques Hittorff, whose most famous later work was the Gare du Nord railway station.

The triangular fronton above is filled with high-relief sculpture which depicts the glorification of Saint Vincent de Paul.

It was made by sculptor Charles-François Leboeuf-Nanteuil (1792–1865), and shows the Saint flanked by two angels, representing the virtues of Faith and Charity.

The building suffered during the Paris Commune: the bell towers were hit by seven shells, and the terrace and ramps by more than twenty, all fired from the Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Painted in 1848–53 against a gilded background, the work illustrates "The Mission of the Church," and depicts two hundred thirty-five figures, including saints, bishops, and martyrs.

One curiosity in the fresco is the figure of Pope Leo III, who has been given the features of the painter Ingres, a favorite of the artist Flandrin.