AURA Invalides

For the first time in Europe, an experience from the AURA series invites visitors on an immersive nighttime tour, (re)discovering an extraordinary French heritage site. Cultural operator Cultival asked Moment Factory, the creators of AURA at the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, to design a new monumental experience beneath the iconic dome at Les Invalides in Paris. The project materialized through a partnership with the Musée de l’Armée, France’s national military museum.

A designated French heritage site, the Dôme des Invalides presented Moment Factory with a major challenge: to create a fully immersive environment across a 3,500-square-metre projection area while preserving the architectural and historical integrity of the site.

Rising to this creative and technical challenge, the team worked closely with Musée de l’Armée curators and the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles. The result, AURA Invalides, offers visitors an intimate connection with the monument and a moment of pure collective wonder.

As night falls, the Dôme des Invalides comes alive with the magic of light, an original orchestral score, and video mapping. Over a span of 50 minutes, visitors explore the monument and its six chapels to the rhythm of three movements recalling its construction long ago, its living memory, and its power to inspire.