5/5 Basem M. 3 years ago on Google
The
site
of
this
edifice,
centred
at
the
end
of
rue
Royale,
a
line-of-sight
between
Gabriel's
twin
hôtels
in
the
Place
de
la
Concorde,
required
a
suitably
monumental
end
from
the
time
that
square
was
established
in
1755,
as
Place
Louis
XV.
The
settlement
around
the
site
was
called
Ville
l'Évêque.
The
site
in
the
suburban
faubourg
had
been
annexed
to
the
city
of
Paris
in
1722.[4][5]
Two
false
starts
were
made
in
building
a
church
on
this
site.
The
reconstruction
of
the
older
church
consecrated
to
Mary
Magdalene
was
considered.
The
first
design,
commissioned
in
1757,
with
construction
begun
with
the
King's
ceremonial
placing
of
the
cornerstone,
3
April
1763,
was
halted
in
1764;
that
first
design,
by
Pierre
Contant
d'Ivry,
was
based
on
Jules
Hardouin
Mansart’s
Late
Baroque
church
of
Les
Invalides,
with
a
dome
surmounting
a
Latin
cross.
In
1777,
Contant
d'Ivry
died
and
was
replaced
by
his
pupil
Guillaume-Martin
Couture,
who
decided
to
start
anew,
razing
the
incomplete
construction,
shortening
the
nave
and
basing
his
new,
more
centralised
design
on
the
Roman
Pantheon.
At
the
start
of
the
Revolution
of
1789,
however,
only
the
foundations
and
the
grand
portico
had
been
finished;
the
choir
of
the
former
church
was
demolished
in
1797,
but
work
was
discontinued
while
debate
simmered
as
to
what
purpose
the
eventual
building
might
serve
in
Revolutionary
France:
a
library,
a
public
ballroom,
and
a
marketplace
were
all
suggested.
In
the
meantime,
the
National
Assembly
was
housed
in
the
Palais
Bourbon
behind
a
pedimented
colonnaded
front
that
was
inspired
by
the
completed
portico
at
the
far
end
of
the
former
rue
Royale.
After
the
execution
of
Louis
XVI
his
body
was
immediately
transported
to
the
old
Church
of
the
Madeleine
(demolished
in
1799),
since
the
legislation
in
force
forbade
burial
of
his
remains
beside
those
of
his
father,
the
Dauphin
Louis
de
France,
at
Sens.
Two
curates
who
had
sworn
fealty
to
the
Revolution
held
a
short
memorial
service
at
the
church.
One
of
them,
Damoureau,
stated
in
evidence:
Arriving
at
the
cemetery,
I
called
for
silence.
A
detachment
of
Gendarmes
showed
us
the
body.
It
was
clothed
in
a
white
vest
and
grey
silk
breeches
with
matching
stockings.
We
chanted
Vespers
and
the
service
for
the
dead.
In
pursuance
of
an
executive
order,
the
body
lying
in
its
open
coffin
was
thrown
on
to
a
bed
of
quicklime
at
the
bottom
of
the
pit
and
covered
by
one
of
earth,
the
whole
being
firmly
and
thoroughly
tamped
down.
Louis
XVI's
head
was
placed
at
his
feet.
On
21
January
1815
Louis
XVI
and
Marie
Antoinette's
remains
were
re-buried
in
the
Basilica
of
Saint-Denis
where
in
1816
his
brother,
King
Louis
XVIII,
had
a
funerary
monument
erected
by
Edme
Gaulle.
In
1806
Napoleon
made
his
decision
to
erect
a
memorial,
a
Temple
de
la
Gloire
de
la
Grande
Armée
("Temple
to
the
Glory
of
the
Great
Army");
following
an
elaborate
competition
with
numerous
entries
and
a
jury
that
decided
on
a
design
by
the
architect
Claude
Étienne
de
Beaumont
(1757–1811),
the
Emperor
trumped
all,
instead
commissioning
Pierre-Alexandre
Vignon
(1763–1828)
to
build
his
design
on
an
antique
temple
(Compare
the
Maison
Carrée,
in
Nîmes)
The
then-existing
foundations
were
razed,
preserving
the
standing
columns,
and
work
begun
anew.
With
completion
of
the
Arc
de
Triomphe
du
Carrousel
in
1808,
the
original
commemorative
role
for
the
temple
was
reduced.
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