Hotel des Invalides - Paris, France
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 48° 51.278 E 002° 18.754
31U E 449573 N 5411523
Les Invalides...site of Napolean's tomb.
Waymark Code: WMDW4J
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 02/29/2012
Views: 60
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.
1000 Places lists Hotel des Invalides as one of the top ten sites to see in Paris and reminds visitors to also see the Musee de l'Armee while there. See (
visit link)
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."