The tomb of Napoleon

Today we visited the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte, which is beneath the golden dome of the Church of the Dome.  This is a huge chapel inspired by St Peters Basilica in Rome, and was built about 100 years before Napoleon died in 1821.  His body was transferred here about 20 years after his death.

Like many buildings in this city this chapel is is huge - here is a fish-eye panoramic view from the huge stone sarcophagus at the bottom to the underside of the dome high above.  The chapel is over 100 metres high!  The tomb is surrounded by twelve marble "Victories" looking down on it:



Ten kilos of fine gold leaf were required to re-gild the dome in 1989.