Hôtel des Invalides

Esplanade des Invalides (7)
Underground: Varenne, La Tour Mabourg
tel : (0) 1 44 42 37 72,
www.invalides.org
Daily 10am-8pm in summer, 10am-7pm in winter.

The Hôtel des Invalides was established by Louis XIV, for accommodation of the wounded soldiers. It didn’t do the reputation of the kingdom much good that former soldiers had to save themselves by pretending to be beggars or criminals. Building the cathedral and its golden dome took over 50 years, and it is visible from miles away. In 1735 the baroque building was finally finished. It has become kind of a national sanctuary to the French: Napoleon, the beloved ánd hated emperor, has been laid to rest in the open crypt, in a sarcophagus of red porphyry. When he was transferred in 1840 every wrath had already disappeared, only the memory of the glorious France was still present. Therefore it is only normal that visitors seem to bow when they come to the balustrade to see the sarcophagus below them.

 

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