The tombs were violated during the French Revolution and the remains thrown into a pit and quicklime was poured over them. During the Restoration in 1818, the pits were opened and the remains exhumed, but they could no longer be distinguished, so they were all put into an ossuary in St.Denis. Regarding the remains of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, they were identified because a royalist had sown trees in that area, and also the corpse was still wearing clothes remembered by people who had seen her. Louis VII was buried elsewhere in Middle Ages and Louis XVIII moved his remains to St.Denis. Henry I and Philip I are still buried elsewhere. Also, in the crypt of St.Denis, scores more burials have been found since World War 2, including Queen Aregonde from the Merovingian period. Louis XVII, the son of Louis XV and Marie Antoinette's heart is also buried into a column I think in the building. DNA test confirms its him because it matches DNA from her hair.
It is another nice church to visit, see what Suger and others accomplished in the way of Gothic. From what I have read Kings and queens no longer rest here. During the revolution their remains were removed by the mob and put into a lime pit. It was only the intervention of the architect De Quincy that prevented the destruction of the sarcaphagi themselves
The tombs were violated during the French Revolution and the remains thrown into a pit and quicklime was poured over them. During the Restoration in 1818, the pits were opened and the remains exhumed, but they could no longer be distinguished, so they were all put into an ossuary in St.Denis. Regarding the remains of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, they were identified because a royalist had sown trees in that area, and also the corpse was still wearing clothes remembered by people who had seen her. Louis VII was buried elsewhere in Middle Ages and Louis XVIII moved his remains to St.Denis. Henry I and Philip I are still buried elsewhere. Also, in the crypt of St.Denis, scores more burials have been found since World War 2, including Queen Aregonde from the Merovingian period. Louis XVII, the son of Louis XV and Marie Antoinette's heart is also buried into a column I think in the building. DNA test confirms its him because it matches DNA from her hair.
It is another nice church to visit, see what Suger and others accomplished in the way of Gothic. From what I have read Kings and queens no longer rest here. During the revolution their remains were removed by the mob and put into a lime pit. It was only the intervention of the architect De Quincy that prevented the destruction of the sarcaphagi themselves
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