The Hôtel des Invalides

The Hôtel and the Esplanade des Invalides

The Paris audio-guided tour leads you to the Hôtel des Invalides, a vast ensemble willed by Louis XIV, whose gilded dome houses the tomb of Napoleon I, at the end of a majestic esplanade.

A city for the soldiers, a tomb for the emperor

Louis XIV, sensitive to the fate of the military, had this foundation built in the 1670s to take in the wounded soldiers who had served the royal army. The vast city of the Invalides accommodated up to four thousand people, combining hospice, convent, manufactory and barracks. The esplanade that extends before it links the Pont Alexandre III to the hôtel. The Dôme church, topped with its famous gilded dome, houses the tomb of Napoleon I: who died in exile on Saint Helena in 1821, the emperor has rested there since the return of his ashes in 1840, the Invalides having been chosen for their strong military symbolism. The site, which belongs to the Ministry of the Armed Forces, has kept its vocation of welcoming the severely war-disabled.

What there is to see

The ensemble impresses with the scale of its esplanade and the brilliance of its gilded dome, one of the finest in Paris. Inside, the tomb of Napoleon, under the cupola, invites contemplation, while the Army Museum retraces centuries of military history. It is a high place of the French heritage, which combines grandiose architecture, memory and exceptional collections.

Practical information

The Hôtel national des Invalides is in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, at the end of the esplanade that links it to the Pont Alexandre III. The esplanade is freely accessible; the Army Museum and the tomb of Napoleon can be visited within the framework of a paying admission, whose hours are to be checked on site.

Why did Louis XIV have the Invalides built?

To welcome and care for the wounded soldiers who had served the royal army; the foundation today still keeps a medical vocation towards the war-disabled.

Since when has the tomb of Napoleon been at the Invalides?

Since the return of his ashes in 1840; who died in 1821 on Saint Helena, the emperor rests under the gilded dome of the church of Saint-Louis.