Eglise des Soldats

From Paris Hotels Reviews

Eglise des Soldats

At the core of the Invalides complex is a double church, built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in the 1670s. The giant Eglise du Dome, to the south, was formerly the Eglise Royale, intended for the private worship of Louis XIV and the royal family, while the relatively Spartan northern section is known as the Eglise de Soldats. A glass wall divides the two churches, a design innovation which would have allowed worshippers to share the same high altar without the risk of coming into social contact. The door to the Soldier’s Church (no ticket required) is in the main northern courtyard of Les Invalides. Inside it’s bright and airy, the high walls lined with almost a hundred banners captured by the French army over the centuries. The collection once numbered three thousand trorphies at its peak, but was largely destroyed in 1817 by a governor of Les Invalides too proud to see them fall back into the hands of Napoleon’s triumphant enemies. A commemorative Mass is still said here on May 5, the anniversary of the emperor’s death.