Six black marble slabs

In the crypt are six tombs with some famous names, and some not so famous.

First we have Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, ordered transferred here by Louis XVIII shortly after he took the throne.

Louis XVIII is here too: he’s the last king to be buried in Saint-Denis. A spot was left for Charles X, last of the Bourbon line, but he died in exile in Slovenia and is buried in a monastery there, so it remains vacant.

The last two spots are for Louis VII (King of the Franks 1137–1180) and Louise de Lorraine, Queen of France 1575–1589, wife of Henri III. They were both buried in or near Paris, but their remains were brought here in 1815 on the order of Louis XVIII. It seems he didn’t want to “go back to normal”, he wanted to start a new age of veneration of royalty. Which, I can sort of understand, but eeesh.

   14 May 2022
   Paris
   ILCE-7M3
   1/30s    f/2.8   28mm   ISO 5000
Black marble tombs