The Army Museum, Paris, Ile-de-France, France
The Army Museum at Les Invalides was originally built by Louis XIV as a hospital and home for disabled soldiers. It now houses the Tomb of Napoleon and the museum of the Army of France. The museum has a huge collection of military paraphernalia dating from antiquity to the present day.
The Army Museum was established in 1905 by the Merging Artillery Museum and the Historical Army Museum. It contains 500,000 objects, including weapons, armor, artillery, uniforms, emblems and paintings.
The other big attraction is the magnificent Tomb of Napoleon; Napoleon passed away in 1821, on the island of St. Helena, where he had been in exile since 1815. He was buried in a valley beneath the shade of weeping willows. His remains rested there until October 15th 1840 when King Louis-Philippe ordered the emperor’s body back to France.
The Tomb of Napoleon was designed by the architect Visconti (1791-1853). It is made from red porphyry with a green granite base and a crown of laurels and inscriptions of the great victories of the Empire. The body of the Emperor was ugly in the grave on April 2nd 1861.
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