Les Invalides & Army Museum (Paris)

The France Army Museum or the National Military Museum is located in Les Invalides Paris (built by order of Louis XIV for disabled wars). Located in the very center of Paris (cross the Seine from the Ferris wheel and go one block to the right) and is considered one of the best military history museums in France.

Les Invalides Paris and Musée de l’Armée is a whole military-historical complex, actually consisting of several museums from different eras, permanent and changing thematic exhibitions. The Museum of the Army officially opened in 1905 as a result of the merger of the Museum of Artillery and the Museum of Army History.

The Museum of Artillery, founded in 1871, inherited in turn two of the most famous collections: the collection of movable property of the French crown (French: la collection du garde-meuble de la Couronne) and the collection of armor and weapons of the Princes of Condé (previously exhibited in the Château de Chantilly). Since 1852, the collection of the Artillery Museum has been settled in Les Invalides, constantly enriched by exhibits from the National Library, the Louvre, the Artillery Museum of Vincennes, the Paris Mint, the Pierrefonds castle collection, as well as through numerous private donations.

The Museum of the Army History was founded in 1896 by the La Sabretache company, whose president (artist Edouard Detail – French Edouard Detaille) dreamed of creating such a museum based on his own collection, taking the historical halls of the Paris World Exhibition of 1889 as a model.
– Army museum collection Guide

Museums map, entrance, tickets and practical information

How to visit, the cash desk and souvenir shop

– The main (Nord) entrance: the ticket office – cashbox, the information, souvenirs shop
– Luis XIV and Charles de Gaule Halls, Arms and Uniforms XVII- XIX age (left)
– Saint Louis Church and Napoleon’s Tomb (centre)
– Exit (or south entrance): the tickets, café
– Word War I & World War II, 1871-1945 section (on the right)
– Arms and armors XIII-XVIII century halls (on the right)

Saint Louis Church, Napoleon’s Tomb, WW1 – WW2 memorials Photo gallery.

World War One outdoor exhibition

In the courtyard of the Les Invalides there are rare examples of military equipment from the First World War, such as artillery, mortars and even a tank. Please note that the French Renault tank is the world’s first tank with a classic layout (chassis, turret, gun). It was his illegal copies that became the first tanks of the Red Army, called “Freedom Fighter Comrade Lenin”. The limited space does not allow Les Invalides to show all the exhibits of its collection, therefore, thematic exhibitions are periodically held in a special section of the Army Museum, as well as in other military museums. I would especially like to note and recommend visiting the tank museum in the city of Saumur (Loire Valley) and the Museum of the Great War (city of Meaux).