After the birth of her son Louis XIV after 23 years of childless marriage, Anne showed her gratitude to the Virgin Mary by building a church on the land of a Benedictine convent.

[1] The church of the Val-de-Grâce, designed by François Mansart and Jacques Lemercier, is considered by some as Paris's best example of baroque architecture (curving lines, elaborate ornamentation, and harmony of different elements).

The hospital is accessible to military personnel in need of medical aid as well as to any person with health coverage under the French social security system.

In the courtyard stands a statue of Dominique Jean Larrey sculpted by David d'Angers in 1843, who was Napoleon's personal surgeon and an innovator in the concept of battlefield triage.

[4] The last emperor of Vietnam, Bảo Đại, died at the modern Val-de-Grâce hospital on 30 July 1997, aged 83.