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The complex known as the Hôtel des Invalides was founded in 1671 by Louis XIV, the Sun King. He wanted to provide accommodation for disabled and impoverished war veterans.
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Cour d'Honneur
Originally only a number of barracks were planned, but King Louis XIV chose a design by architect Liberal Bruant which consisted of a large impressive building with a royal courtyard and church.
The front facade facing the Seine river is 196 meters long (643 ft). The whole complex features no less than fifteen courtyards, the largest being the cour d'honneur (court of honor). This courtyard was used for military parades.
The building was completed in 1676 and housed up to 4,000 war veterans. A wide, 500 meters long esplanade designed by Robert de Cotte separates the Hôtel des Invalides from the late nineteenth-century Pont Alexandre III and Seine river.
Church of Saint-Louis
Starting in 1676 on request of the Sun King's war minister, the church of Saint-Louis was added as an annex to the complex.
It was built by Jules Hardouin Mansart after the design by Libéral Bruant, the architect of the Hôtel des Invalides. The church, then known as the pensioners' Choir but later referred to as the Soldiers' church was opened for the soldiers in 1679. They were required to attend the daily mass here.
Dôme des Invalides
The church is connected directly with the Royal chapel, better known as the Dôme des Invalides. This chapel with a 107 meter high dome (351 ft) was for exclusive use of the royal family. Construction of the dome was completed in 1708, 27 years after the first stone was laid.
Plans to bury the remains of the Royal Family here were set aside after the death of king Louis XIV, and in 1840 king Louis-Philippe repatriated the remains of the Emperor Napoleon from st. Helena - where he was buried after his death 19 years earlier - to have Napoleon entombed here. The Dôme des Invalides now also houses the tombs of several other military leaders like Turenne, Vauban and marshall Foch.
Musée de l'Armée
The Hôtel des Invalides is now home to several museums:
The Musée de l'Armée is a large military museum located on both sides of the cour d'honneur. It covers military history from the early Middle Ages to the second World War. It features weapons, uniforms, maps and banners, not only from the western world, but also from countries like Turkey, China, Japan and India.
The Musée des Plans-Reliefs (Relief Maps Museum) displays detailed scale models of French fortresses and fortified cities, going back to the seventeenth century.
The Musée de l'ordre de la Libération is dedicated to the liberation of France in the Second World war and to its leader, general Charles de Gaulle.
Location
The Hôtel des Invalides is located in the 7th arrondissement, south of the Seine river, just east of the Ecole Militaire.
The royal chapel of the Invalides complex is the location of the tomb of one of France's favorite native sons.
The Invalides Complex
The complex of buildings known as Les Invalides sits in Paris's 7th arrondissement and consists of museums and monuments related to the military history of France. The most recognizable and well-known part of Les Invalides is the Dôme des Invalides,
Dôme des Invalides
a gold-domed building now used as a burial site for a number of the country's war heroes.
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Its History
Proposed by Louis XIV in 1670 as a home for "invalids" - disabled and impoverished war veterans, Les Invalides was designed by Libéral Bruant and completed in 1676.
That same year King Louis XIV - the Sun King - charged architect Jules Hardouin Mansart with the task of creating a separate private chapel at the Invalides for exclusive use of the royal family. It is this gold-domed church, completed in 1708 by de Cotte after Mansart died, that many
The painted dome
individuals recognize. Inspired by Rome's St. Peter's Basilica, this chapel, known as Église du Dôme, is considered one of the world's most exciting examples of French Baroque architecture.
The dome itself is 107 meters high (351 ft), making it one of the tallest monuments in Paris, and was centrally placed in order to dominate the court of honor - one of fifteen courtyards at the complex, designed for military parades. The inside of the dome was painted by Charles de La Fosse, disciple of eighteenth century well-known French painter, Charles Le Brun.
Napoleon's Tomb
Napoleon's Tomb
Napoleon Bonaparte, whose last wish was to be buried at the banks of the Seine River, died on the island of St. Helena and was buried there until King Louis-Philippe decided to have his body exhumed and returned to Paris in 1840. He chose to have him entombed at Les Invalides.
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In order to accommodate the tomb, architect Louis Visconti had to redesign the high altar of the domed church. Upon completion in 1861, the remains of Napoleon's body were then placed in six coffins inside a tomb, which was fashioned from red Finnish porphyry with a green granite base, and placed inside the crypt.
A dozen large figures are arranged around the tomb, intended to
Vauban Memorial
represent Napoleon's victories. An accompanying statue of the French leader himself, dressed in coronation robes, stands nearby and measures more than 8 feet high (2.4 m), in stark contrast to the emperor's diminutive size.
Also buried at Invalides are several members of Napoleon's family as well as a number of prominent French military leaders and war heroes.
The memorial of Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban, marshal of King Louis XIV's army, was installed here in 1808 at Napoleon's request. The monument contains an urn with the ashes of Vauban. Another large monument in the Dôme des Invalides is the bronze tomb of marshal Ferdinand Foch, commander of the allied armies at the end of the first World War.
