Marie-Antoinette and the Expiatory Chapel

In 1815, the Bourbons return from exile. Younger brother of Louis XVI, the new king Louis XVIII tries to make forget the Revolution to legitimize the restoration of the monarchy (1815-1830).

At the same time, it was decided to build an expiatory chapel in honor of Marie-Antoinette (1816), partly on the site of her cell but also on that of another room where Robespierre was imprisoned.
Nestled at the back of the chapel, the sanctuary with its black walls, lined with silver tears, is an invitation to meditation.

Located where the Queen's bed is supposed to have been, an altar made of fake marble is engraved with an excerpt from the last letter Marie-Antoinette wrote to her sister-in-law, Madame Elisabeth, before she went to the scaffold.

The stained glass window with Marie-Antoinette's initials and the three paintings on the walls also date from the Restoration period.