Les Invalides, Paris - Napoleon Finally Laid To Rest

Immediately under the dome at Les Invalides inThis was in fact Napoleon's third place of burial
Paris lies the body of Napoleon Bonaparte. It hassince his death forty years earlier in 1821.
lain here since 1861 in an imposing marble tomb,Previously, until the dome was complete, he had
decorated with volutes atop a rectangular slab.lain in nearby Saint-Jerome's Chapel, after a state
The ambitious French emperor, who won and lostfuneral in 1840. The funeral was the culmination of
a series of military campaigns, had wanted to bean episode known as the "Retour des Cendres"
buried in Paris. In his will, he stated that he wished("Return of the Ashes"), involving the exhumation
to be interred on the banks of the River Seine.and shipping of Napoleon's body from the island of
Napoleon's mortal remains may not beSaint Helena in the South Atlantic.
immediately adjacent to the river. But in 1861 theOne might be tempted to think that Saint Helena
French king, Louis-Philippe, went to the extent ofwas merely the latest territory to be grabbed in
positioning him in prime position under a recentlyNapoleon's imperial strategy. In fact, his career
completed dome by the architect Louis Visconti.had been over in 1815 after defeat at the Battle
The complex of buildings that is Les Invalides,of Waterloo and he had been exiled to this
including the chapel dome under which Napoleon isremote island to spend the last six years of his
buried, is clearly visible from the Seine.life, living at Longwood House.
Today, Les Invalides consists of museums andThe island of Saint Helena, two thousand
monuments relating to the military history ofkilometres from any major landmass, must have
France as well as a retirement home and hospitalbeen a desolate place for Napoleon to spend his
for war veterans. Also buried here are familylast days. In death, Napoleon was interred with
members and officers who served underdignity under the chapel dome at Les Invalides,
Napoleon.Paris.