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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;old49er, post: 2644971, member: 78229&quot;]Hi Postumus, From your description I&#039;m assuming its this medal. Nice one. Here&#039;s some info on it.[ATTACH=full]584170[/ATTACH] The chapel of the Invalides was built at the end of the 17th century by Jules-Hardouin Mansart and contains Napoleon&#039;s tomb. In 1840, during the &#039;Return of the Ashes&#039;, a law passed on 10th June ordered the construction of the Emperor&#039;s tomb below the dome of the Invalides.<b>On 5 May 1821</b>, Napoleon I passed away on the island of St. Helena, where he had been in exile since 1815. He was buried near a spring, in the shade of a few weeping willows, in the &quot;<i>valley of Geraniums</i>&quot;. His remains stayed there until 1840. In 1840, King Louis-Philippe decided to transfer the Emperor&#039;s body. French sailors, under the command of the Prince of Joinville, brought his coffin to France aboard the ship &quot;<i>Belle Poule</i>&quot;.</p><p><b>A state funeral accompanied the return of Emperor Napoleon I&#039;s ashes, which were transferred to Les Invalides on 15 December 1840</b> while the tomb was being built. The architect Visconti (1791-1853) was commissioned to make it in 1842 by King Louis-Philippe, who had extensive work carried out beneath the Dome, involving an immense excavation to create a space for the tomb. The body of Emperor Napoleon I was placed there on 2 April 1861.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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