Hotel des Invalides

Les Invalides comprises different museums, including: the Musée de l'Armée, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, the Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération and L'Eglise de St-Louis-des-Invalides. Together these museums and the impressive architecture that houses them make the Hotel des Invalides worth a visit.

In 1670, Louis XIV founded Les Invalides near what was then called the Grenelle Plain. It was to serve as a home for retired soldiers, and the construction was paid for by the Amry and the soldiers themsleves. Construction followed plans drawn up by Libéral Bruant, and was completed in 1676. The Dome was constructed a few years afterwards.

The main attraction of the place may be that it houses the grave of Napoleon. In 1840 the French government received permission from the British Government to exhume the body of Napoleon and to transport it back from St.Helena to Paris. A State funeral for the small General was held in Paris and Napoleon was buried in the crypt under the Dome of the Hotel des Invalides 19 years after his dead. Some people who saw the body when the coffin was opened, claim it was still in a perfect state.