Places, museums, monuments : 133
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Place, museum or monumentImperial chapel – Ajaccio
The construction of the Palatine chapel, more commonly known as the 'Imperial Chapel', was the result of the last wishes of Cardinal Fesch: 'On the sale of my Great Gallery of paintings, my heirs should take the sum of two hundred thousand francs for the construction of a church in Ajaccio…in which should be built […]
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Place, museum or monumentSalon napoléonien, Hôtel de Ville – Ajaccio
The Hôtel de Ville or town hall in Ajaccio was built during the reign of Charles X between 1824 and 1830. In it is the Salon napoléonien which houses various napoleonic paintings and statues, and memorabilia of the imperial family. For reasons of lack of space, a part of the collection is on show at […]
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Place, museum or monumentVendôme Column
“The city of Paris has a great mast, made entirely of bronze, with sculpted Victories and Napoleon as its lookout”. Such were Balzac’s words on the Vendôme column, the obelisk which throughout the 19th century was seen as the most important symbol of Paris and upon which each government attempted to make its mark. Its […]
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Place, museum or monumentMuseum of Historical Figurines – Compiègne
One hundred thousand tin, lead, card and papier-maché figurines, recounting the military and civilian history of France, go to make up the Musée de la Figurine Historique. And the museum spreads out over 5,300 square feet, six chronological sections, and includes twenty dioramas devoted to the First Empire. Two historical reconstructions present 'The victory at Austerlitz, […]
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Place, museum or monumentPalais de Beaux-Arts – Lille
This Lille art gallery was founded by an act of parliament passed by Bonaparte on 1 September 1801. At that time, when the art pieces seized during the Revolution and the works of art stolen from Flanders, Italy and Germany were filling up the Louvre (soon to be called the Musée Napoléon), the First Consul […]
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Place, museum or monumentMuseum of the History of Medicine – Paris
The neoclassical Collège et Académie de Chirurgie (College and Academy of Surgery) by the architect Gondoin was built in the old Rue des Cordeliers over the years 1769-1775. The rival establishment, the Faculté de Médecine, stood on the Rue de la Bûcherie. After the suppression of the academies and the closure of the faculties in […]
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Place, museum or monumentMusée des Canonniers Sédentaires de Lille Museum
The history of the Canonniers Sédentaires de Lille is closely linked to that of the city. In 1235, the city was emancipated and had to take on the heavy costs of building and fortifying the city. Of the archers, crossbowmen, the swordsmen and gunners who could be mobilised by the aldermen, all that remained were […]
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Place, museum or monumentPrince Impérial Commemorative Route
Napoleon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph, only son of the Emperor Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie, met his death in South Africa in 1879 in tragic circumstances. In commemoration of this event, the province of KwaZulu created in 1995, a 'Napoleonic route' dedicated to the Prince Impérial. After the disaster at Sedan, the Imperial family […]
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Place, museum or monumentCathedral – Ajaccio
On St Helena, as he lay dying Napoleon remembered the church of his childhood: 'If they forbid my corpse, as they have forbidden my body, a small piece of land in which to be laid, I desire to be buried with my ancestors in Ajaccio cathedral in Corsica'. This quotation, engraved on a marble plaque […]
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Place, museum or monumentMusée A Bandera – Ajaccio
In February 1979, the A Bandera association was formed, an organisation with the mission to promote interest in the military history of Corsica. And this goal was to be achieved through a periodical, through conferences and through a museum with one permanent and occasional temporary exhibitions. This museum has been in being since 1989 and […]