Hôtel des Invalides
Louis XIV founded the Hôtel des Invalides in 1670 as a hospital and retirement home for aged and disabled soldiers. You find its buildings in the seventh arrondissement of Paris. Above them rises the Dôme des Invalides, designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in the French Baroque style. At 107 metres it is the tallest church building in Paris.
Inside, the buildings hold the Musée de l'Armée, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs and the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine. All of them trace the military history of France, and monuments to that past stand across the site. The Cathedral of Saint-Louis-des-Invalides serves as the national cathedral of the French military. Its first congregation lived here, since resident veterans had to attend daily services.
The site has stood behind key moments of French history: Parisian rioters stormed the complex on 14 July 1789. Beneath the cupola lies Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb. Completed in 1861, it is a sarcophagus of purple quartzite resting on a base of green granite. Look up from the sarcophagus and Charles de La Fosse's illusionistic ceiling painting fills the inside of the dome.
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