The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old soldiers' retirement home, the building's original purpose. The buildings house the Musée de l'Armée (the museum of the Army of France), the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine. The complex also includes the Cathedral of Saint-Louis-des-Invalides, the national cathedral of the French military. It is adjacent to the Royal Chapel known as the , the tallest church building in Paris at a height of . The latter has been converted into a shrine to some of France's leading military figures, most notably the tomb of Napoleon.

History

thumb|left|150px|Mansard's original plan for Les Invalides (about 1700)

Louis XIV initiated the project by an order dated 24 November 1670 to create a home and hospital for aged and disabled () soldiers, the veterans of his many military campaigns. The initial architect of was Libéral Bruant. The selected site was in the then suburban plain of Grenelle (plaine de Grenelle). By the time the enlarged project was completed in 1676, the façade fronting the Seine measured in width, and the complex had fifteen courtyards, the largest being the cour d'honneur designed for military parades. The church-and-chapel complex of the Invalides was designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1676, taking inspiration from his great-uncle François Mansart's design for a to be built behind the chancel of the Basilica of Saint-Denis, the French monarch's necropolis since ancient times. Several projects were submitted in the mid-1660s by both Mansart and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who was residing in Paris at the time. Mansart's second project is very close to Hardouin-Mansart's concept of the Royal Chapel or Dome Church at , both in terms of its architecture and of its relationship with the adjacent church. Architectural historian Allan Braham has hypothesized that the domed chapel was initially intended to be a new burial place for the Bourbon Dynasty, but that project was not implemented. Instead, the massive building was designated as the private chapel of the monarch, which was attached to the Cathedral attended by the veterans. The Dôme des Invalides remains as one of the prime exemplars of French Baroque architecture, at high, and also as an iconic symbol of France's absolute monarchy.

The interior of the dome was painted by Le Brun's disciple Charles de La Fosse with a Baroque illusionistic ceiling painting. The painting was completed in 1705.

Meanwhile, Hardouin-Mansart assisted the aged Bruant with the Cathedral of Saint-Louis-des-Invalides, Paris, which was finished to Bruant's design after the latter died in 1697. Daily attendance of the veterans in the church services was required. Shortly after the veterans' chapel was started, Louis XIV commissioned Mansart to construct a separate private royal chapel, now named its most striking feature. The Dome chapel was finished in 1706.

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File:Stichting invalides.jpg|Louis XIV views the plans of

File:Louis XIV Invalides Pierre Denis Martin.JPG|Visit of Louis XIV to (about 1706). Painting by Pierre-Denis Martin

File:Hyacinthe Rigaud 1685 Jules-Hardouin Mansart-001.JPG|Portrait of Hardouin-Mansart by Hyacinthe Rigaud showing the Dome, Louvre

File:Veron-Bellecourt - Napoléon Ier visitant l'infirmerie des Invalides, 11 février 1808.jpg|Napoleon I visiting the infirmary of

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Because of its location and significance, the Invalides served as the scene for several key events in French history. On 14 July 1789, it was stormed by Parisian rioters who seized the cannons and muskets stored in its cellars to use against the Bastille later the same day. Napoleon was entombed under the Dome of the Invalides with a grand ceremony in 1840. The separation between the two churches was reinforced in the 19th century with the erection of Napoleon's tomb, the creation of the two separate altars, and the construction of a glass wall between the two chapels.

The building retained its primary function as a retirement home and hospital for military veterans (invalides) until the early twentieth century. In 1872, the musée d'artillerie (Artillery Museum) was located within the building to be joined by the musée historique des armées (Historical Museum of the Armies) in 1896. The two institutions were merged to form the present musée de l'armée in 1905. At the same time, the veterans in residence were dispersed to smaller centres outside Paris. The reason was that adopting a mainly conscript army after 1872 meant a substantial reduction in the number of veterans having the twenty or more years of military service formerly required to enter the Hôpital des Invalides. The building accordingly became too large for its original purpose. The modern complex does, however, still include the facilities detailed below for about a hundred elderly or incapacitated former soldiers.

When the Army Museum at was founded in 1905, the veterans' chapel was placed under its administrative control. It is now the cathedral of the Diocese of the French Armed Forces, officially known as Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides.

2024 Olympic venue

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File:Mens Individual Archery Paris 2024.jpg|Men's Individual Archery at the Les Invalides venue.

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The Esplanade des Invalides, the expansive green space in front of the historic Hôtel des Invalides, was a venue for several sports during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. It hosted archery, para-archery, road cycling, and marathon events, with the Invalides buildings providing a backdrop.

Architecture

North Front and entrance

thumb|center|800px|The north front of the Invalides: Hardouin-Mansart's Dome, behind it, stands above Bruant's pedimented central block

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File:Paris - Les Invalides - Façade nord - Statue de Minerve - PA00088714 - 004.jpg|The portal is guarded by a statue of the Goddess Minerva

File:North portal of Hôtel des Invalides, Paris 11 June 2013.jpg|The north portal, depicting Louis XIV on horseback

File:Paris - Les Invalides - Façade nord - 005.jpg|Statue of Mars, the Roman god of war, by the north portal

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Hardouin-Mansart's Dome chapel is large enough to dominate the long façade yet harmonizes with Bruant's door under an arched pediment on the north front of Les Invalides. To the north, the courtyard (cour d'honneur) is extended by a wide public esplanade (Esplanade des Invalides) where the embassies of Austria and Finland are neighbors of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all forming one of the grand open spaces in the heart of Paris. At its far end, the Pont Alexandre III links this grand urbanistic axis with the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais. The Pont des Invalides is next, downstream the Seine river.

The Dome des Invalides

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File:Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides, 140309 2.jpg|The Dôme des Invalides, tall

File:Paris - Détail du dôme des Invalides - 0009.jpg|Detail of the dome, decorated with of gold leaf

File:Paris - Plafond du dôme des Invalides.jpg|Interior of the Dome

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File:Paris Les Invalides Dome Innen Grabrotunde 1.jpg|Interior of the dome with murals by Charles de la Fosse

File:Hôtel des Invalides - porte.jpg|The bronze and gilded doors to the dome

File:Paris Dôme des Invalides interior Pendentif.jpg|A mural by Charles de la Fosse

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The Dome is the tallest and most famous of the buildings of Les Invalides. Designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, it takes the form of a Greek cross, on a square plan. Each of the facades is composed of two orders superimposed. The porch is topped by triangular fronton. It is crowned by a dome 90 metres, high, surmounted by lantern bringing the height to 107 metres (351 feet), making it taller than Notre Dame de Paris and the tallest of all Paris church domes.

The dome is actually composed of two domes superimposed. The lower dome is largely open at the base, allowed the visitors below to see the art painted on the dome above by Charles de La Fosse. The windows are masked by the lower dome, which permits natural lighting and gives the impression that viewers are actually seeing the sky, a popular Baroque effect.

The church is located directly behind the Dome des Invalides. It was originally the church that was used by the army veterans who lived at Les Invalides. They were required to attend daily services in the cathedral. In the original church, the dome, where the royal family worshipped, served as the choir, while the present cathedral was the nave for the veterans.

One unusual feature of the church is the display of captured enemy flags taken over the years by the French Army.

The Museum of Relief Maps

The Musee des Plans-Reliefs displays a collection of military models. It was begun in 1668 the Minister of War of Louis XIV ordered that three-dimensional models be made of fortified cities and strategic places in France. The models were originally held in the Louvre. The collection was enlarged through the 18th centuries, and some models of German fortifications were added.

The total collection made between 1668 and 1870 has about 150 models. The museum currently displays some twenty-eight models, depicting fortified cities of the French coast.

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File:Paris - Le Grand Palais -La France en relief - Brest - 009.jpg|Relief plan of Brest.

File:Chateau If plan-relief.jpg|Relief map of the Chateau d'If.

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Plan of Les Invalides

{| style="text-align:center; margin:auto"

| architectural_style ="text-align:center" colspan="2"| 400px|center|Le plan de l'Hôtel des Invalides

|- style="vertical-align:top"

| width="50%" |

| width="50%" |

|- style="vertical-align:top"

| width="50%" |

  • 1. Cour d'honneur
  • 2. Cour d'Angoulème
  • 3. Cour d'Austerlitz
  • 4. Cour de la Victoire
  • 5. Cour de la Valeur
  • 6. Cour de Mars
  • 7. Cour de Toulon
  • 8. Cour de Nismes
  • 9. Cour de Metz

| width="50%" |

  • 10. Cour de l'Infirmerie
  • 11. Cour d'Oran
  • 12. Cour de la Paix
  • 13. Cour d'Arles
  • 14. Cour d'Alger
  • 15. Cour Saint-Louis
  • 16. Cour Saint-Joseph
  • 17. Cour Saint-Jacques

|}

Hardouin-Mansart's Dome chapel is large enough to dominate the long façade yet harmonizes with Bruant's door under an arched pediment on the north front of Les Invalides. To the north, the courtyard (cour d'honneur) is extended by a wide public esplanade (Esplanade des Invalides) where the embassies of Austria and Finland are neighbors of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all forming one of the grand open spaces in the heart of Paris. At its far end, the Pont Alexandre III links this grand urbanistic axis with the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais. The Pont des Invalides is next, downstream the Seine river.

The buildings still comprise the Institution Nationale des Invalides, a national institution for disabled war veterans. The institution comprises:

  • a retirement home
  • a medical and surgical centre
  • a centre for external medical consultations.

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File:Paris - Orthophotographie - 2018 - Hôtel des Invalides 02.jpg|Aerial view of Les Invalides

File:Paris - Toiture de la cour d'honneur des Invalides - Sculptures - 0010.jpg|Statue and attic window in the court of honor

File:Vive L'Empereur, Musée de l'Armée, August 2013 002.jpg|"Long Live the Emperor" in the court

File:HoteldesInvalides-005-P07.jpg|The Alexander III bridge was built in alignment with Les Invalides

File:Dome Invalides-IMG 2448.jpg|Sight on the complex and Paris from the Dome's top

File:Armoiries-france-invalides-IMG 0831.jpg|Top of the gate that overlooks the northern esplanade

File:Hotel des Invalides seen from the Tour Montparnasse.JPG|From Montparnasse tower

File:L'architecture. Le passé.-Le présent (1916) - Flickr 14778212605.jpg|The Dome has a structure of triple hull

File:Hôtel des Invalides - porte.jpg|The monumental bronze door of the Dome

File:Dôme des Invalides, plan of former Église Royale des Invalides, engraving published 1670.jpg|Plan of the Dome

File:Dôme des Invalides clocheton 2010.jpg|Pinnacle at the top of the Dome

File:Dome @ Musée de l'Armée @ Les Invalides @ Paris (25768372166).jpg|Interior architecture

File:Paris Dôme des Invalides 777.JPG|The grounds are covered with polychrome marble marquetries of the 17th century

File:Napoleons tomb Paris France.jpg|Napoleon's tomb was dug in the center of the Dome

File:Paris - Plafond du dôme des Invalides.jpg|Cupola of the Dome

File:Dome @ Musée de l'Armée @ Les Invalides @ Paris (25673476082).jpg|One of the four small side cupolas

File:Paris invalides cathedrale int.jpg|According to an old tradition, war trophies decorate the vault of the Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides

File:MilitaryCostumeEmperorKienLong1736-1796.jpg|The Qianlong Emperor's military costume at the Musée de l'Armée

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Burials

thumb|The sarcophagus of Napoleon Bonaparte

thumb|Tomb of Napoleon II at Les Invalides, Paris

The Dome chapel became a military necropolis when Napoleon in September 1800 designated it for the relocation of the tomb of Louis XIV's celebrated general Turenne, followed in 1807–1808 by Vauban. The creation of the crypt and of Napoleon's massive sarcophagus took twenty years to complete and was finished in 1861. By then, it was emperor Napoleon III who was in power and oversaw the ceremony of the transfer of the remains of his uncle from a chapel of the church to the crypt beneath the dome.

Inside the Église du Dôme des Invalides

The most notable tomb at Les Invalides is that of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), designed by Louis Visconti with sculptures by James Pradier, Pierre-Charles Simart and Francisque Joseph Duret. Napoleon was initially interred on Saint Helena, but King Louis Philippe arranged for his remains to be brought to France in 1840, an event known as le retour des cendres. Napoleon's remains were kept in the Saint Jerome (southwestern) chapel of the Dome church for more than two decades until his final resting place, a tomb made of red quartzite and resting on a green granite base, was finished in 1861.

Other military figures and members of Napoleon's family were also buried at the Dome church by year of burial there:

  • Albert d'Amade (1856–1941)
  • Jean-Toussaint Arrighi de Casanova (1778–1853), Governor 1852–1853
  • Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers (1764–1813) (heart)
  • Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers (1795–1878), Marshal of France
  • Jean-François Berruyer (1737?–1804), Governor 1803–1804
  • Jean-Baptiste Bessières (1768–1813), Marshal of the Empire
  • Baptiste Pierre Bisson (1767–1811) (heart)
  • Antoine Baucheron de Boissoudy (1864–1926)
  • Thomas Bugeaud (1784–1849), Marshal of France, involved in the conquest of Algeria
  • François Canrobert (1809–1895), Marshal of France
  • François-Henri de Franquetot de Coigny (1737–1821), Marshal of France, Governor 1816–1821
  • Victor Cordonnier (1858–1936)
  • Charles-Marie Denys de Damrémont (1783–1837)
  • Vincent Martel Deconchy (1768–1823) (heart)
  • Denis Auguste Duchêne (1862–1950)
  • Guy-Victor Duperré (1775–1846)
  • (1794–1848)
  • Jean Baptiste Eblé (1758–1812) (heart)
  • Louis Franchet d'Espèrey (1856–1942), Marshal of France
  • Rémy Joseph Isidore Exelmans (1775–1852), Marshal of France
  • Émile Fayolle (1852–1928), Marshal of France
  • Ernest François Fournier (1842–1934)
  • Dominique-Marie Gauchet (1853–1931)
  • Augustin Gérard (1857–1926)
  • Henri Giraud (1879–1949)
  • Émile Guépratte (1856–1939)
  • Adolphe Guillaumat (1863–1940)
  • Ferdinand-Alphonse Hamelin (1796–1864)
  • Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul (1754–1807) (heart)
  • Paul Prosper Henrys (1862–1943)
  • (1885–1960), Governor 1951–1960
  • Georges Louis Humbert (1862–1921)
  • Jean-Baptiste Jourdan (1762–1833), Marshal of the Empire, Governor 1830–1833
  • Alphonse Juin (1888–1967), Marshal of France
  • Jean-Baptiste Kléber (1753–1800) (heart)
  • Fernand de Langle de Cary (1849–1927)
  • Charles Lanrezac (1852–1925)
  • Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère (1852–1924)
  • Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière (1759–1812)
  • Dominique Jean Larrey (1766–1842), celebrated military surgeon
  • Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle (1777–1809), the "Hussar General"
  • Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (1902–1947), Marshal of France
  • Patrice de MacMahon (1808–1893), Marshal of France and President of France
  • Paul Maistre (1858–1922)
  • Gabriel Malleterre (1858–1923), Governor 1919–1923
  • Charles Mangin (1866–1925)
  • (1864–1944), Governor 1923–1944
  • Edmond-Charles de Martimprey (1808–1883), Governor 1870–1871
  • Louis de Maud'huy (1857–1921)
  • Michel-Joseph Maunoury (1847–1923), posthumous Marshal of France
  • Antoine de Mitry (1857–1924)
  • Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor (1770–1849), Marshal of France, Governor 1847–1848
  • Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey (1754–1842), Marshal of the Empire, Governor 1833–1842
  • Raoul Magrin-Vernerey a.k.a. Ralph Monclar (1892–1964), Governor 1862–1864
  • Georges Mouton (1770–1838), Marshal of France
  • François-Marie-Casimir Négrier (1788–1848) (heart)
  • Robert Nivelle (1856–1924)
  • (1618–1705), Governor 1696–1705
  • Philippe Antoine d'Ornano (1784–1863), Marshal of France, Governor 1853–1863
  • Nicolas Oudinot (1767–1847), Marshal of the Empire, Governor 1842–1847
  • Paul Pau (1848–1932)
  • Aimable Pélissier (1794–1864), Marshal of France
  • Henri Putz (1859–1925)
  • (1870–1951), Governor 1944–1951
  • Pierre Alexis Ronarc'h (1865–1940)
  • Pierre Roques (1856–1920), creator of the French Air Force
  • Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (1760–1836), army captain, author of France's national anthem La Marseillaise
  • Pierre Ruffey (1851–1928)
  • Auguste Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély (1794–1870), Marshal of France
  • Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud (1798–1854), Marshal of France
  • Maurice Sarrail (1856–1929) (heart)
  • Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta (1771–1851), Marshal of France
  • Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier (1742–1819), Marshal of France, Governor 1804–1815
  • Victor d'Urbal (1858–1943)
  • Sylvain Charles Valée (1773–1846), Marshal of France

Two of these, Gabriel Malleterre and Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, are also honored with a plaque inside the Saint-Louis-des-Invalides cathedral. Another plaque honors Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (1889–1952), posthumous Marshal of France, commander of the French First Army during World War II and later commander in the First Indochina War, who is buried in Mouilleron-en-Pareds.

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File:Caveau des Gouverneurs.jpg|Burial vaults in the beaneath Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides

File:Jean de Lattre de Tassigny memorial plaque, Saint-Louis-des-Invalides, Les Invalides, Paris, France - 20050912.jpg|Plaque honoring Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny in Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides

File:Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque memorial plaque, Saint-Louis-des-Invalides, Les Invalides, Paris, France - 20050912.jpg|Plaque honoring Marshal Leclerc in Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides

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See also

  • List of museums in Paris
  • List of hospitals in France
  • List of tallest structures in Paris
  • List of tourist attractions in Paris
  • List of tallest domes
  • Military history of France
  • San Francisco City Hall, the design of which was influenced by Les Invalides
  • La Tour-Maubourg, adjacent Paris Metro stop convenient to Les Invalides
  • National Pantheon of Venezuela
  • Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral
  • National Pantheon of the Heroes
  • Altar de la Patria
  • Artigas Mausoleum
  • List of works by James Pradier
  • 18th-century Western domes

References

  • 3d model of interior of Les Invalides