Les Invalides - Paris, France
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 48° 51.278 E 002° 18.754
31U E 449573 N 5411524
Les Invalides...site of Napolean's tomb. The official name is L'Hôtel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids).
Waymark Code: WMD16X
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 11/05/2011
Views: 61
Originally a military hospital, this complex of buildings now houses military museums, artifacts...and of course, the tombs of famous French military men...including Napolean and members of his family. Construction began in 1670 and the complex of baroque buildings was completed in 1679. The architects were Libéral Bruant and Jules Hardouin Mansart.
This website (
visit link) on baroque architecture has this passage on the Invalides:
"Jules Hardouin-Mansart was commissioned by Louis XIV to build a new chapel (1680-1706) among the existing buildings of the Hotel des Invalides military hospital and home for war veterans (1670-76). It is constructed on the main axis of Les Invalides, with an oval sanctuary added to a central plan. It is topped by a dome inspired by Michelangelo's cupola of St Peter's in Rome, although this French version is considerably taller. The windows of the lower drum, separated by pairs of columns, illuminate the interior, while also supporting the first masonry ceiling. The windows of the second drum light the space between the first dome and a second one. visible through the wide central aperture of the spheroidal vault beneath it. A third, lead-covered dome forms the outer shell and is topped by a lantern ending in a pinnacle inspired by the Gothic tradition. Mansart's plans also included two quarter-circle wings, adapted from Bernini's designs for St Peter's Square, but these were never built. Construction of Les Invalides coincided with almost the entire period of Louis XIV's military campaigns (1667—1714) through which he sought to dominate Europe."
Wikipedia (
visit link) further informs us:
"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 river front measured 196 metres and the complex had fifteen courtyards, the largest being the cour d'honneur ("court of honour") for military parades. It was then felt that the veterans required a chapel. Jules Hardouin Mansart assisted the aged Bruant, and the chapel was finished in 1679 to Bruant's designs after the elder architect's death. The chapel is known as Église Saint-Louis des Invalides. Daily attendance was required.
Shortly after the veterans' chapel was completed, Louis XIV commissioned Mansart to construct a separate private royal chapel referred to as the Église du Dôme from its most striking feature (see gallery). Inspired by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome the original for all Baroque domes, it is one of the triumphs of French Baroque architecture. Mansart raised its drum with an attic storey over its main cornice, and employed the paired columns motif in his more complicated rhythmic theme. The general programme is sculptural but tightly integrated, rich but balanced, consistently carried through, capping its vertical thrust firmly with a ribbed and hemispherical dome. The domed chapel is centrally placed to dominate the court of honour. It was finished in 1708."