Les Invalides
Les Invalides
Royal Chapel of Les Invalides
Royal Chapel of Les Invalides
Lion Armour of Francis I
Lion Armour of Francis I
Reinforced Half-Armour of Henry IV
Reinforced Half-Armour of Henry IV
Ceremonial Armour of Louis XIV
Ceremonial Armour of Louis XIV
Napoleon in Coronation Robes
Napoleon in Coronation Robes
Decorated Armour of Cardinal Richelieu
Decorated Armour of Cardinal Richelieu
Armour of King Charles IX
Armour of King Charles IX
Ornate Childs Armour for Louis XIII
Ornate Childs Armour for Louis XIII
Mamluk Cavalry and Horse Armor
Mamluk Cavalry and Horse Armor
Bronze Cannon with Fleur-de-Lis
Bronze Cannon with Fleur-de-Lis
Ceremonial Child's Armour of Louis XIII
Ceremonial Child's Armour of Louis XIII

Les Invalides

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Les Invalides began in 1671 as Louis XIV’s vast hospice and retirement home for wounded soldiers, a statement that royal power carried obligations to those who fought in its wars. Built by Libéral Bruant and later crowned by Jules Hardouin-Mansart’s gilded Dome Church (1677–1706), the complex binds army, faith, and state into a single ceremonial landscape of courtyards and chapels. Since Napoleon’s remains were brought here in 1840, it has also served as a national shrine, while the Army Museum frames France’s military memory across the centuries.