France 🇫🇷 Paris - Napoleon's tomb

#100waysoftravel Napoleon's tomb is the monument erected at Les Invalides in Paris to keep the remains of Napoleon following their repatriation to France from Saint Helena in 1840, or retour des cendres, at the initiative of King Louis Philippe I and his minister Adolphe Thiers. Under the authority of Louis XIV, the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart had the Invalides' royal chapel built from 1677 onwards. The Dome was Paris' tallest building until the Eiffel Tower was erected. The many gilded decorations remind us of the Sun Kingm who issued an edict ordering the Hôtel des Invalides to be built for his army's veterans. During the Revolution, the Dome became the temple of the god Mars. In 1800, Napoleon I decided to place Turenne's tomb there and turned the building into a pantheon of military glories. In 1840, Napoleon had been buried on Saint Helena Island since 1821, and King Louis-Philippe decided to have his remains transferred to Les Invalides in Paris. In order to fit the imperial tomb inside the Dome, the architect Visconti carried out major excavation work. The body of the Emperor Napoleon I was finally laid to rest there on 2 April 1861. During the Second World War, the site was turned into a barracks by the occupying force, but the Morin family, who lived on the premises, secretly sheltered Allied pilots there for three years. The Dome also houses Vauban's mausoleum, the graves of Napoleon II (also known as "The Eaglet"), Joseph and Jérôme Bonaparte, the Generals Bertrand and Duroc, and the famous Marshals Foch and Lyautey.