Page 188 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Paris

186  P ARIS AREA B Y AREA

Street-by-Street: Invalides

The imposing Hôtel des Invalides, from which the area takes its
name, was built from 1671 to 1676 by Louis XIV for his wounded
and homeless veterans and as a monument to his own glory. At
its centre, the glittering golden roof of the Sun King’s Dôme des
Invalides marks the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte. General de Gaulle’s
The emperor’s body was brought here from St Helena in 1840, Liberation Order and compass
19 years after he died, and placed inside the majestic Metro La Tour
sarcophagus, designed by Joachim Visconti, that lies at the Maubourg
centre of the Dôme’s circular glass-topped crypt. Just to the
east of the Hôtel on the corner of the Boulevard des Invalides, PL DES INV ALIDES
the superb Musée Rodin offers artistic relief from the pomp
and circumstance of the surrounding area.

The façade of the Hôtel is 196 m (645 ft) long A V E D E L A M O T T E
and is topped by dormer windows, each P I C Q U E T
decorated in the shape of a different trophy. A
head of Hercules sits above the central entrance.

4. Musée de l’Armée
This vast museum covers military
history from the Stone Age to World
War II. It contains the third-largest
collection of armoury in the world.

3 Musée de l’Ordre
de la Libération
The Order was set up to
honour feats of heroism
during World War II.

2. St-Louis-des-Invalides
From St-Louis, the soldier’s A VE DE T OUR VILLE
chapel, it is possible to
see into the Dôme, which
was built as Louis XIV’s
private chapel. A V
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A
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D S

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0 metres 100
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