Musée de l'Armée - Hôtel national des Invalides

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Musée de l'Armée - Hôtel national des Invalides

Museum

District : Saint-Germain-des-Prés / Musée d'Orsay / Montparnasse

Informations :

Public establishment

Ministère de la Défense

The Army museum, created in 1905, is housed in the prestigious setting of the "Hôtel National des Invalides". It is a result of the merger of the musée d'Artillerie(1796/97) and the musée historique de l'Armée created 100 years later following the World Fair. It comprises a museum and two churches with some 500,000 classified objects over 8 000 m². As such it is the most important museum of military history in France and one of the leading ones in the world. The permanent collections are displayed historically with a chronological presentation from Antiquity to the end of the Second World War and complemented with objects from thematic groupings (emblems, paintings, military decorations...) These thematic collections are therefore either presented in the course of the historic exhibitions, or grouped together in specific areas (salle Turenne: emblems; salle Gribeauval: small artillery models...).

The Dôme Church (designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart), with its 107-metres-high lantern and dome was regilded for the 5th time since its creation for the bicentenary of the French Revolution in 1989 (12 kg of gold were necessary for this operation). Beneath the dome is the huge painted fresco by Charles de La Fosse. The Dôme church is also a military pantheon housing the heart of Vauban, the remains of Turenne and the heart of the 'Tour d'Auvergne; and in particular the tomb of the Emperor Napoleon I, the tombs of his brothers Joseph and Jérome Bonaparte, his son, the King of Rome, generals Bertrand and Duroc and marshalls Foch and Lyautey. For more information on the Church Saint-Louis-des-Invalides: see under this rubric.

Others informations

Architecturals styles :

Classical

List of collections :

History, Painting, Photography, Technology, Medals, Emblems, Artillery, Weapons, Historical figurines, Architecture, Models, Posters, Funerary art, Recumbent statues, Tombs

Collections period :

17th century, 18th century, 19th century, 20th century, 14th century, 15th century, 16th century, 13th century

Opening days and times

Open/Closed :

The museum is closed every first Monday of the month, on January 1st, May 1st, November 1st and December 25th
April 1st to September 30th : 10am - 6pm. From October 1st to March 31st : 10am - 5pm.
The Historial Charles de Gaulle and the modern department are closed every Monday.

Cash desk closes at :

30mn before closing time.

Days of week :

Open on those public holidays :

Individual tours

Independant tour :

The ticket for the Musée de l'Armée also allows you to visit the Dôme Church and Napoleon's tomb, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs (scale models of French 17th-century towns) and the Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération (relating to World War II).
€8.50. Reduced fee €6.50: retired soldiers, parents "large families",
Booking: 01 44 42 43 87

Guided tour :

Booking necessary (call 01 44 42 37 72)

Free :

Free entrance for the disabled + 1 accompanying person, members of the European Union under 26 years, unemployed, journalists and teachers.

Free for children :

- 18 yrs.

Group tours

Group tour :

Booking necessary for groups (from 10 people) : 01 44 42 43 87

Services

Combined ticket :

The entrance ticket gives access to the Army Museum (musée de l'Armée), Napoleon's Tomb(Tombeau de Napoléon), to the Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération and to the Musée des plans-reliefs.

Audio guide :

For a visit to the Dôme in English, French, Italian, German, Russian, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese €6, reduced price €4 (under 26s)

Restaurant.

Gifts shop.

Room hire.

Other services :

Museum & Monuments pass | Bookshop