Pension Belhomme

The Pension Belhomme is defined by a neoclassical pavilion and two wings that sit today within the public grounds of the Square Colbert, hidden from the street by modern apartment buildings at number one hundred fifty-nine rue de Charonne. Founded in seventeen sixty-eight by a cabinetmaker named Jacques Belhomme, the site originally operated as a private asylum for the wealthy. It was here that Philippe Pinel, a foundational figure in psychiatry, conducted early observations on mental illness.