If you walk west on Boulevard Haussmann, where the famous department stores Galeries Lafayette and Printemps are located, you will discover, when you reach number 90 (more or less), a gloomy and mysterious building on the other side of the street. Although it is a magnificent historical building with a fascinating story, few people know its story and why it was built. Even fewer visit it.
This building is called the Chapelle Expiatoire or in Hebrew “Chapel of Remembrance” and today we will discover together what kind of memory we are talking about and how we can visit this mysterious place surrounded by a beautiful but slightly melancholic garden. For that we will have to go back to 1793, so get in the time machine with me and let’s get going…
When the king and queen are buried in a mass grave in the Madeleine cemetery
As you all know, in 1789 theFrench Revolution And everyone talks about human and civil rights. However, within a few years the revolution becomes increasingly violent and the period of terror begins. During this period the guillotine inPlace de la Concorde (then called Revolution Square) began working overtime and it was necessary to find a place where its victims could be quickly buried.
This need was filled by the Madeleine Cemetery, which opened in 1721, and even before that. French Revolution Quite a few French people were buried there (including the 133 people who burned to death when fireworks caused a fire during the wedding celebrations of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette).
In 1792, it was decided to bury here the fallen of Louis XVI's Swiss Guard, who were massacred by an angry mob during the storming of the Tuileries Palace, and from that day on, those executed during the French Revolution began to be buried here (later the guillotine moved to Place de la Nation, so the fallen of the Revolution began to be buried in the Picpus Cemetery, but that's another story).
On January 21, 1793, Louis XVI was executed in the Place de la Revolution. After being beheaded, his body was placed in a coffin with the head placed between his legs. The coffin was taken through the present-day Rue Saint-Honoré and Rue Boissy d'Anglas and from there to Rue Anjou. There, the king was buried in an unmarked grave close to the fence.
At the same time, a man named Pierre-François Palloy (1755-1835) served a stuffed pig's head in his restaurant to mark the occasion. As you can see, the French have never forgotten their refined sense of humor...
The king's burial place would have been quickly forgotten, as it was forbidden to place a tombstone there. Fortunately for royal enthusiasts, however, a man named Olivier Desclozeaux (1732-1816), who lived on Rue Anjou, looked out his window and noted down exactly where the king was buried. He did the same when she was buried here. Marie Antoinette In October 1793, just to be on the safe side, he planted a pair of weeping willows near the graves.
In 1802, the Madeleine cemetery was closed and Pierre Louis decided to buy the land to turn it into his private garden. This was undoubtedly one of the best real estate investments in history because when the Bourbons returned to power in 1814, one of the first things they did was search for the royal couple’s tomb.
Olivier approached King Louis XVIII and showed him exactly where Louis XVIII and Marie Antoinette were buried. After the body was identified, the bodies were transferred toBasilica of Saint-Denis There they were buried, alongside most of the kings of France, in a most impressive ceremony. Olivier was awarded a large pension, the Order of Saint-Michel, and a royal dowry for his two daughters. After exhausting negotiations, he agreed to sell the garden to the king. France And so he also became a very rich man (in total he earned about 160,000 francs, a very serious sum in those days).
To honor the memory of Louis XVI and his wife, Louis XVIII decided to build a magnificent chapel on the site where they were buried. The architect entrusted with the task was Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853), who is known to us for the western part of the Rue de Rivoli, which he designed on the orders of Napoleon I.
The construction took nearly a decade and was inaugurated by Charles X, brother of Louis XVIII and Louis XVI, in 1826. From the moment the chapel was opened to the public, many people called it the “hangover” of the old monarchy (l'Ancien Régime). As a result, over the following years, many people wanted to demolish the building.
The peak was in 1871, during the Paris Commune, when an official demolition order was issued for the chapel. But then a man named Jacques Liebmann appeared, posing as an American businessman interested in purchasing the building's stones. He paid a hefty down payment, stalled for time with bureaucratic excuses until the Commune fell, and thus the building was saved (a comedy of errors at its best). In 1914, the building was declared a historic monument, and the danger of demolition disappeared forever.
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Visit to the Chapelle Expiatoire
After I told you the story behind that mysterious chapel, it's time to visit it. We'll start with some technical details and then I'll tell you what you're going to see there (including some photos I took during one of my recent trips to Paris).
How do we get there?
The quickest way to get there is by metro. You can get off at Saint Augustin station (line 9), or at Saint-Lazare stations (lines 3, 12, 13, 14) and Havre-Caumartin (lines 3, 9). From there, a short walk along Boulevard Haussmann will take you to the garden and chapel on your right.
Opening hours and days
Opening hours vary depending on the season (note that last entry is allowed half an hour before closing):
- April 1 to September 30: Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00-12:30 and 13:30-18:30 (closed on Sunday and Monday).
- October 1 to March 31: Wednesday to Saturday, 10:00-12:30 and 13:30-17:00 (closed on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday).
The property is closed on January 1, May 1, and December 25.
Buying tickets
The ticket to the place costs about 6 euros (that's how much it cost when I visited). Young people under 18 (and EU residents under 25) enter for free. Tickets can be bought at the box office, but if you have Paris pass, then you can enter the place with it for free.
“Guided tour” of the chapel
Enter the lovely garden, which was built around the chapel. To me, this is not only a great place to rest from your sightseeing in Paris. It is time to remember the saying “If there is no bread, eat cakes”, and if you bought cakes first in one of the patisseries around the Madeleine Church, this is the place to have a short memorial meal in memory of Marie Antoinette, after whom this saying is inscribed (it doesn’t really matter that she didn’t actually say it).
After you are finished, you are welcome to enter.
Entrance to the complex
The entrance to the place is somber, as befits a place of remembrance. You can see there, above the entrance door, a sarcophagus and an inscription that notes the work of Louis XVIII to preserve the memory of his brother and wife.
When you enter, you will see the ticket office and museum shop on your right (in case you need to buy a ticket). If you already have tickets, you are welcome to continue forward into the courtyard, but before that, pay attention to the silhouettes of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, which are above the arches in the wall.
The inner garden
This was actually the Madeleine Cemetery (a raised garden known as Campo Santo) and you can find two rows of tombstones on each side. These tombstones were built in memory of the Swiss Guards who were massacred on August 10, 1792, when the royal family was kidnapped from the Tuileries Palace and placed in the Temple Fortress inMarais DistrictAlso note the white rose bushes planted along the central path – this is no accidental landscaping, but a special variety originally cultivated for Marie Antoinette at the Palace of Versailles. Take a few minutes to remember these brave warriors and continue on into the chapel itself.
Chapel
When you enter the chapel, you will surely be reminded of the Pantheon in Rome, thanks to the dome through which sunlight penetrates.
Under the dome you can see the statues of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette:
The statue of Louis XVI was created by the famous sculptor François Joseph Bosio (1768-1845), who was responsible, among other things, for the equestrian statues on Arc de Triomphe of the carousel. As you can see the king is supported by an angel on his way to heaven (look closely at the angel’s face – this is the face of the priest confessor who accompanied Louis to the guillotine, Father Edgeworth). Under the statue you will find the king’s last will and testament engraved on black marble.
On the other side you can find the statue of Marie Antoinette, the work of the famous sculptor Jean-Pierre Cortot (1787-1843), who was also responsible for several of the statues of Arc de Triomphe (This time it's the one on Place d'Etoile.) As you can see, the Queen is kneeling before a statue representing the Christian faith (if the face of this figure looks familiar to you, it's because it's based on the cast of the Queen's beloved sister-in-law, Madame Elisabeth, who was also executed). Underneath this statue you can read (if you know French (Of course) the last letter written by Marie Antoinette to the sister of Louis XVI.
Another relief that is definitely worth paying attention to was made by the sculptor Gérard (Antoine-François Gérard 1760-1843) and depicts the transfer of the bodies of the royal couple from their temporary tomb in the Madeleine cemetery to the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
The exit from the chapel and the secrets of the crypt
After you’ve finished admiring the grandeur of the chapel, you’re invited to descend into the crypt to see the exact spot where Louis XVI was buried (it’s marked by a black marble altar). However, the crypt’s great secret was only revealed in 2018. Thanks to tiny cameras inserted into the walls, researchers confirmed what had until then been only a vague rumor: the place is actually an entire necropolis. Behind these walls lie ossuaries containing the bones of some 500 guillotine victims from the Revolutionary era, including famous women like Louis XV’s mistress, Madame du Barry, and feminist Olympe de Gouges.
Afterwards, you are invited to exit through the side gallery, where you can find several more tombstones and sometimes a changing exhibition.
Take your time and enjoy the peace and quiet as you walk to the souvenir shop. That's where our short tour ends, I really hope you enjoyed it.
Want to visit more interesting cemeteries in Paris?
The cemeteries of Paris contain many beautiful tombs and fascinating historical stories. Therefore, it is not surprising that they have become one of the main attractions in Paris. If you would like to get more information about the different cemeteries in Paris, you can find it in the article The Cemeteries of Paris If Only the Graves Could Talk.
Planning a trip to Paris?
If you are planning a trip to Paris and want to discover more charming places like this chapel, I highly recommend reading this article. ParisThere you will find not only Itineraries and information about monuments, but also practical information such as how to find cheap flights, recommended hotels, and more.