Les Invalides Church

Address: Hôtel National des Invalides, 129 Rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris, France

Website: https://www.musee-armee.fr/

Hours: Daily 10am-6pm

Admission: Musée de l’Armée adult ticket approx. €14 (check official site for current prices)

Les Invalides is a Parisian complex in the 7th arrondissement that houses military museums, a veterans’ hospital complex and the burial site of Napoleon Bonaparte. Construction began under Louis XIV in the late 17th century to serve as a residence and hospital for disabled soldiers.

The site’s best-known features are the gilded Dôme and Napoleon’s tomb beneath it, alongside the Musée de l’Armée with extensive uniforms, weapons and military artefacts. Visitors also tour the original chapel and courtyards and can view architecture by Libéral Bruant and Jules Hardouin-Mansart.

Commissioned in the 1670s by Louis XIV, the complex was designed to provide care for war veterans and to project royal authority; the dome church and some of the present arrangements were completed under later architects. Napoleon’s remains were transferred to the site in 1840, establishing the Dôme as a national funerary monument.

Les Invalides is located on the left bank of the Seine in central Paris, close to the École Militaire and within walking distance of other central landmarks.

• Founding and function: The complex was built in the late 17th century as a royal hospital and retirement home for veterans under Louis XIV and contains major military collections.

What to See#

• Dôme des Invalides: The gilded Dôme contains the ornate sarcophagus that holds the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte and dominates the site’s skyline.
• Musée de l’Armée: Musée de l’Armée houses extensive collections of arms, armour and military artifacts spanning ancient times through the 20th century.
• Saint-Louis des Invalides: Église Saint-Louis-des-Invalides is the original chapel of the complex and forms part of the interconnected ensemble of churches and museums.

Les Invalides is in Paris’s 7th arrondissement adjacent to the Esplanade des Invalides. Take Metro lines 8 or 13 to Invalides (there is also an RER C stop called Invalides); the station exit is a short 2-5 minute walk to the complex. By car it sits on Boulevard des Invalides/Avenue de la Tour-Maubourg in central Paris; from Charles de Gaulle Airport expect roughly a 30-40 km drive into central Paris depending on traffic.

• Visit right at opening or late afternoon to avoid the peak midday coach and school-group rush that concentrates around Napoleon's tomb under the golden dome.
• Buy Musée de l'Armée tickets online in advance and head first to the Église du Dôme (Imperial Chapel) to see Napoleon's sarcophagus before the main museum galleries fill up.
• After the dome, work through the Musée de l'Armée's permanent galleries methodically-many visitors skip the lower-level arms and armour displays and temporary-special exhibition rooms, which often contain more focused displays than the packed central galleries.