Les Invalides
Les Invalides is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement, now containing museums and monuments, relating to France's military history, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, which were the building's original purpose. The name is a shortened form of hôpital des invalides, the hospital for invalids.
The site first housed a hospital for soldiers. A soldiers’ chapel soon followed as well as a separate royal chapel, the church of St. Louis des Invalides, often referred to as the Dôme des Invalides from its most striking feature. The Dome is modelled on St Peter’s Basilica in Rome and is regarded as one of the finest triumphs of French Baroque architecture.
Napoleon's Tomb in the Invalides
The most notable tomb at Les Invalides is that of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) in the crypt under Mansart's dome. Napoleon was initially interred on Saint Helena, but King Louis-Philippe arranged for his remains to be brought to St Jerome's Chapel in Paris in 1840. A renovation of Les Invalides took many years, but in 1861 Napoleon was moved to the most prominent location under the dome at Les Invalides.
A popular tourist site today, Les Invalides is also the burial site for some of Napoleon's family, and for several military officers who served under him, and other French military heroes.
