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Chapelle Expiatoire Review

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Chapelle Expiatoire

  • Address: 29 rue Pasquier, Opéra/Grands Boulevards, Paris
  • Phone: 01-44-32-18-00

Fodor's Review:

Built in 1815, this neoclassical temple marks the original burial site of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. After the deposed monarchs took their turns at the guillotine on Place de la Concorde, their bodies were taken to a nearby mass grave. A loyalist marked their place, and their remains were eventually retrieved by the dead king's brother, Louis XVIII, who moved them to the Basilica of St. Denis. He then ordered the monument (which translates to Expiatory, or Atonement, Chapel) built on this spot, in what is now the leafy Square Louis XVI off Boulevard Haussmann. Two stone tablets are inscribed with the last missives of the doomed royals, including pleas to God to forgive their Revolutionary enemies. The subtle tribute is in sharp contrast to Napoléon's splashy memorial at Les Invalides.

  • Cost: EUR 5
  • Open: Thurs.-Sat. 1-5
  • Metro: St-Augustin
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