Paris111 Tomb of Napoléon I On May 5th 1821, Napoléon I passed away on the island of St Helena, where he had been in exile ever since 1815. He was buried close to a spring, in the shadows of a few weeping willows, in the "Geranium valley". His remains rested there until October 15th 1840. In 1840, King Louis-Philippe decided to transfer the body of the Emperor. National funerals followed the return of the Emperor Napoléon I remains, transferred to the Invalides on December 15th 1840, while the tomb was being constructed. It was commissioned in 1842, by Louis-Philippe, to the architect Louis Visconti, who made vast transformations by excavating largely the inside of the Dome church, to host the tomb. The body of the Emperor Napoléon I was laid there on April 2nd 1861. The tomb, crafted in red porphyry from Russia, placed on a green granite base from the Vosges, is circled by a crown of laurels and inscriptions, reminders of the great victories of the Empire. In the round gallery, a series of low-relief, sculpted by Simart, represent the main actions of the reign.