Expiatory Chapel

Designed in 1816 by the renowned French Neo-Classical architect Pierre François Léonard Fontaine, who was a favorite of Napoleon and collaborated with Charles Percier, the Chapel was overseen during construction by Fontaine's assistant, Louis-Hippolyte Lebas. It stands partially on the former grounds of the Madeleine Cemetery, where the ill-fated King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were laid to rest after their tragic executions by guillotine.

King Louis XVIII and the Duchess of Angoulême jointly funded the construction of the Chapelle expiatoire, contributing a total of 3 million livres. A decade of meticulous craftsmanship brought the chapel to completion, and it was officially inaugurated in 1826, graced by the presence of King Charles X. During the cornerstone blessing, Hyacinthe-Louis de Quelen, the Archbishop of Paris, made a heartfelt plea for amnesty for the exiled members of the National Convention, but it fell on deaf ears.

In 1862, the once-encircling cypresses were felled, paving the way for the creation of a public park known as Square Louis XVI around the chapel complex. Despite the Paris Commune's demand in May 1871 for the Chapel's demolition, this request was never acted upon.

Each January 21, a solemn memorial mass takes place within the chapel, commemorating the tragic passing of Louis XVI. However, in 2009, a severe storm caused substantial damage to the Chapel, leaving an indelible mark on its storied history.

The Chapelle expiatoire sits gracefully atop a gentle elevation. It comprises two structures, demarcated by a courtyard enclosed within a cloister-like peristyle, effectively isolating the chapel from the outside world. The entrance is situated on Rue Pasquier, adorned with an inscription above it that reads as follows:

"King Louis XVIII commissioned this monument to consecrate the site where the mortal remains of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette, relocated on January 21, 1815, to the royal tomb of Saint-Denis, rested for 21 years. Its completion occurred during the second year of Charles X's reign, in the year of grace 1826."

Within the courtyard, cenotaphs pay tribute to those believed to be interred in this sacred space.

To enter the chapel itself, one passes through a pedimented tetrastyle portico, characterized by a solemn Doric architectural style. The chapel's interior features a central domed space shaped like a Greek cross, formed by three coffered half-domed apses with oculi, which supplement the soft natural light filtering through the main dome's skylight. The cubic, semicylindrical, and hemispheric volumes evoke both the central designs of High Renaissance churches and the aesthetics of Greco-Roman martyriums. Sculptor François Joseph Bosio and Jean-Pierre Cortot crafted white marble statues of the king and queen in ecstatic poses. Additionally, French sculptor François-Antoine Gérard, responsible for several other carvings within the chapel, created a bas-relief depicting the exhumation and transfer of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's remains to the Basilica of St Denis.

In the crypt, an altar crafted from black and white marble serves as a marker for the spot where the royal remains were discovered.

The Chapelle expiatoire unquestionably stands as Paris's most unwavering example of late neoclassical religious architecture. Chateaubriand deemed it "the most remarkable edifice in Paris." The chapel's austere geometric design remains unadorned by sculpture, as clearly observed from the perspective of rue d'Anjou.