After visiting the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral, walking through Île de la Cité and the Latin Quarter, we headed to our next destination, Hôtel National des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), more commonly known as Les Invalides...
Waiting for our subway train to come...
I kind of fell in love with the subway system in Paris - it is so convenient that you are never, actually never more than 5-10 minutes away from a subway station, wherever you are in Paris...
Pont Alexandre III in the middle of the frame...
Les Invalides is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military heritage of France. This complex also includes a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, which incidentally was the building's original purpose. The complex houses the Musée de l'Armée, the French military museum, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine, as well as the Dôme des Invalides, a church with the cemetry for some of France's war heroes, most notably Napoleon Bonaparte, who lies right beneath the golden dome...
Place des Invalides...
Louis XIV initiated the construction of Les Invalides in November 1670, as a home and hospital for aged and unwell soldiers. The architect of Les Invalides was Libéral Bruant. The complex had fifteen courtyards, the largest being the cour d'honneur (court of honour) for military parades, a chapel for veterans - Église Saint-Louis des Invalides and a private royal chapel - the Église du Dôme...
An armoured vehicle at the Musée de l'Armée...
Knights of yesteryears...
A knight in shining armour...
Some more amour on display...
Ornamental shields...
Armour for the cavalry...
Rifles from the medieval era...
Courtyard of Les Invalides...
Looks like Napoleon Bonaparte...
Saint-Louis-des-Invalides Cathedral...
This is the cathedral of the veterans...
The flames of devotion...
...no matter what faith!
The alter...
The Tricolore...
Heading to see where Napoleon was interred...
The Dôme des Invalides that has fascinated me all this while...
This royal chapel was built between 1677 and 1706, during the reign of Louis XIV. While it was known as the Temple de Mars during the French Revolution, the Dome Church became a military pantheon during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, with the installation of the tomb of Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne Turenne or the Vicomte de Turenne in 1800 and a monument dedicated to Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, a military engineer.
On May 5, 1821, Napoleon I or Napoleon Bonaparte passed away on the island of St. Helena, where he had been in exile since 1815. He was buried at St. Helena near a spring, in the shade of a few weeping willows, in the "Valley of Geraniums".
Napoleon's remains stayed at St. Helena until 1840, when King Louis-Philippe decided to transfer the Emperor's body back to Paris. The army brought his coffin to France aboard the ship "Belle Poule".
A state funeral followed - Napoleon Bonaparte's ashes were paraded under the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, and then brought to Les Invalides on December 15, 1840 while the tomb was being built.
The architect Visconti was commissioned to make Napoleon's tomb in 1842 by King Louis-Philippe. Extensive work was carried out beneath the Dome, involving an immense excavation to create a space for the tomb. The body of Napoleon was finally placed here on April 2, 1861.
The tomb is made of red quartzite and placed on a green Vosges granite base, is surrounded by a laurel crown and inscriptions referring to the Empire's great victories.
The dome...
Surrounding the Tomb, twelve "Victories" sculpted by Pradier symbolise Napoleon's military campaigns. 8 famous victories are inscribed on the polychrome marble floor.
In the circular gallery, a set of 10 bas-reliefs sculpted by Simart depict the main achievements of Napoleon's reign: pacification of the nation, administrative centralisation, State Council, Civil Code, Concordat, Imperial University, court of accounts, code of commerce, major works and the Legion of Honour.
At the back of the crypt, above the slab on top of the King of Rome's grave, stands a statue of the Emperor clad in the symbols of the Empire.
Tomb of Joseph-Napoleon Bonaparte (Joseph Napoleon I), the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. He was made King of Naples and Sicily, and later as King of Spain...
The tomb of Vauban...
The tomb of Marshal Foch, the French First World War hero, whose statue we had seen yesterday at the Place du Trocadéro et du 11 Novembre...
The alter of Église du Dôme...
A model of Les Invalides...
The sarcophagus of Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey, a French Army general and colonial administrator, who served in Morocco, IndoChina and Madagascar. He also served as Minister of War and was awarded the distinction - Marshal of France...
The tomb of Vicomte de Turenne...
The three fleurs-de-lis, a symbol of France...
The Little Bonaparte made me smile...
Looking back at Les Invalides...
Our date with Bonaparte was done and now we head back...
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