Les Invalides: Napoleon’s tomb and the Army Museum in Paris

What is the Hôtel des Invalides?

Louis XIV commissioned it in 1670 to house and care for wounded soldiers. Jules Hardouin-Mansart added the Dôme church, completed in 1706, whose gilded cupola can be seen from afar. Today the complex houses the Musée de l’Armée, one of the richest military history museums.

What can you see?

• Napoleon I’s tomb, under the Dome: his remains, brought back from Saint Helena in 1840, were laid there on 2 April 1861 in a red porphyry sarcophagus at the centre of an open circular crypt.
• The tombs of other military leaders, including Turenne, placed in the Dome as early as 1800.
• The museum’s collections: arms and armour, uniforms, and the rooms devoted to the two World Wars.
• The main courtyard with its cannons, then the esplanade down to the Pont Alexandre III.

When to go and how to get there?

The museum opens every day from 10 am to 6 pm, with the ticket desk closing 30 minutes earlier; it is closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. According to Paris je t’aime, a full-price ticket is €17 (reduced €12); entry is free for under-18s and for EU citizens under 26. Check prices on the museum’s website before you go. From the Concortel, take line 8 at Madeleine to Invalides or La Tour-Maubourg; on foot, allow about half an hour via Concorde and the Pont Alexandre III (estimate).

Find Les Invalides on our illustrated map of Paris, and carry on to the Petit Palais, across the bridge. More ideas in Discover Paris.