Eglise Sainte-Marguerite, a discreet church in the 11th arrondissement

TheEglise Sainte-Marguerite is not Notre-Dame or La Madeleine, but a small church in the Charonne district, rather unknown to tourists and Parisians alike.

In 1624, Jean de Vitry, seigneur de Reuilly, gave land to Antoine Fayet, parish priest of Saint Paul, to build a chapel. The nearest church was far away, and the religious authorities were concerned about the lack of a parish in this working-class neighborhood. In 1703, it was done, and the building was ready to welcome the local faithful.

From the outside,Sainte-Marguerite is a fairly simple church, with an original bell tower, , and a wooden belfry covered in slate. But what's most interesting is the church's interior. In 1760, architect Victor Louis was commissioned to build the Chapelle des Âmes du Purgatoire.

This chapel is home to a sublime trompe-l'œil, a neo-classical masterpiece created by Italian artist Paolo Antonio Brunetti and Frenchman Gabriel Briard. Strings of columns, friezes and statues are painted to create a beautiful perspective effect, making the chapel appear much larger than it really is.

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Outside, theEglise Sainte-Marguerite still boasts its own cemetery, a rarity for an intramural church. During the French Revolution, the bodies of 300 people guillotined on the Place de la Bastille and the nearby Place de la Nation were buried here. But the most famous tomb is, without doubt, that of Louis XVII. Or so it was thought.

According to legend, Louis XVII was buried in the cemetery of the Eglise Sainte-Marguerite after his death on June 10, 1795 at the Prison du Temple. However, under the Restoration, Louis XVIII commissioned an investigation, which was continued by the July Monarchy several decades later. An autopsy revealed that the body in the lead coffin was that of an adolescent aged between 15 and 18, whereas the young Louis XVII had died younger, at the age of 10.

Despite the denial, the grave continues to be decorated with flowers, and a plaque commemorating"The child who died in the Temple dungeon" is still there today!