Who is buried at Les Invalides?
Napoleon I, at the centre
Died on Saint Helena on 5 May 1821, brought back in 1840, installed in Visconti's tomb when it was completed in 1861. He lies alone in the middle of the crypt, ringed by twelve Victories by Pradier. Everything else in the Dôme is organised around him: the full story is on the tomb page.
Turenne and Vauban's heart, placed here by Napoleon
This is the detail that explains everything. In 1800 the First Consul had the tomb of Marshal Turenne, who died in 1675, moved to Les Invalides from Saint-Denis. In 1808 he had the heart of Vauban deposited here, the body staying in the Morvan. Napoleon thus manufactured, before his own death, a site of French military memory of which he would become the centre thirty years later. It was deliberate.
The family
Napoleon II, known as the Eaglet, who died in Vienna in 1832 at twenty-one, has lain here since December 1940: his remains were transferred that year from the Capuchin crypt. He now rests very close to his father. His story is on his page.
Joseph Bonaparte, the elder brother, King of Naples and then of Spain, and Jérôme Bonaparte, the youngest, King of Westphalia, occupy two side chapels. They are the only brothers of the emperor buried here.
The companions and the marshals
The generals Bertrand and Duroc — one Grand Marshal of the Palace, killed in 1813, the other a companion of Saint Helena — flank the entrance to the crypt: it is a piece of staging, they guard the door. Later came Marshal Foch, who died in 1929, whose tomb by Landowski shows him carried by eight soldiers, and Marshal Lyautey, who died in 1934.
Who is not here
Two absences come up constantly. Napoleon III is not here: he died in exile in England in 1873 and lies at Farnborough, in Hampshire, with the Empress Eugénie and their son. See his page. And General de Gaulle is not here either: he is buried at Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, as he wished. What carries his name here is the Historial, a museum space, not a grave. See the de Gaulle page.
Take ten minutes to walk the full circuit of the side chapels before going down to the crypt. Most visitors cross them looking at the centre: they miss Foch, which you do not forget once you have seen it.
Seeing all of this
A single ticket opens the Dôme and its chapels, along with the four museums.
A reminder: what you book above is the ticket that opens the Army Museum, the Dôme and the tomb. The great courtyard and the Saint-Louis cathedral stay free to enter, with no ticket at all.
Frequently asked questions
Which famous person is buried at Les Invalides?
Napoleon I, under the Dôme, since the return of the ashes in 1840.
Who else lies under the Dôme?
Turenne, the heart of Vauban, Napoleon II, Joseph and Jérôme Bonaparte, the generals Bertrand and Duroc, the marshals Foch and Lyautey.
Is Napoleon III at Les Invalides?
No, he is buried at Farnborough in England: see this page.
Is de Gaulle buried here?
No, at Colombey-les-Deux-Églises. The Charles de Gaulle Historial is a museum, not a tomb: see this page.