Les InvalidesLiberal Bruant, Jules Hardouin-Mansart

The gilded dome of Les Invalides (1706) rises above bare winter trees, its lantern and ribs catching pale light against a grey sky. Conceived under Louis XIV as part of a hospital and residence for wounded soldiers, the complex embodied royal responsibility toward veterans. The dome later sheltered Napoleon’s tomb, transforming a charitable institution into a central monument of French military memory.