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What to Expect

Les Invalides, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, is a building complex that contains monuments and museums all relating to the military history of France, as well as serving as a retirement home and hospital for war veterans, which was the building's original purpose. Among the more famous museums housed here is the Army Museum (Musée de l'armée), and the tallest church in Paris, the Dôme des Invalides, which is home to Napoleon's tomb.

The Army Museum (Musée de l'armée) is home to a rich and varied French national military legacy. Created in 1905 by the merging of Musée d'Artillerie and the Musée Historique de l'Armée, it houses 500,000 artifacts that include armor, weapons, uniforms, artillery, paintings, and emblems. The permanent collections have been organized into historical collections that represent a chronological tour from ancient times up to World War II.

A former church, the Dôme des Invalides is the tallest structure at the center of the Les Invalides complex, standing at 107 meters high. Designed in the French Baroque style by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, it was the designated resting place for Napoleon's remains, which you can see in Napoleon's tomb. Napoleon's remains were brought back to France from St. Helena in 1840, which is where he had been in exile since 1815. The tomb itself is sculpted from blocks of red quartzite and placed on a green Vosges granite base, is surrounded by a laurel crown and inscriptions referring to the Empire's great victories. Don't miss out on a viewing of this enigmatic monument when you are here.