About This Location
Дook ahead to the gilded dome of Les Invalides. By day it is one of Paris’s grand landmarks, built under Louis XIV as a place to care for wounded and retired soldiers. The site first opened to veterans in 1674, and the dome later became famous as Paris’s tallest building until the Eiffel Tower was built. AURA Invalides is the night-time version of this story. After dark, the Dôme des Invalides is transformed with video mapping, lighting effects, and an original orchestral score. The experience lasts about 50 minutes, and it guides visitors through the monument and its chapels in three movements - from the building’s creation, to its living memory, to the way it still inspires today. Inside, let the atmosphere do the work. Stone columns seem to shift as light climbs upward. The dome feels higher than expected, and the sound follows the curves above your head. This is also the place that holds Napoleon I’s tomb, adding a quiet weight to the spectacle, even when the show focuses your eyes on the architecture. A practical note helps here. Entry is only via Place Vauban, and once the show begins, late arrivals are not admitted. The visit is a walking route with stairs, and it includes flickering lights and louder sound at times, so step carefully and take it slowly if that matters. Now go through the archway ahead to enter from Place Vauban.