Chapelle Expiatoire

The chapel was commissioned by Louis XVIII in memory of his executed predecessors, his brother Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Their remains, along with those of 3,000 victims of the Revolution, including Camille Desmoulins, Danton, Malesherbes and Lavoisier, were found in 1814 on the spot where the altar stands. The year after, the bodies of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were transferred to the Basilique St-Denis; the pair are now represented by marble statues, kneeling at the feet of Religion. Every January ardent (albeit unfulfilled) royalists gather here for a memorial service.