The Revolution

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The Royal Abbey of Notre Dame de Montmartre was a Benedictine Convent in Paris that was founded by Adelaide of Savoy who was later buried at the Abbey Chapel.
Sadly the Abbey was closed in 1792 and the nuns were evicted and it was demolished in 1794
Its last Abbess, Marie-Louise de Laval-Montmorency went to the guillotine in July 1794.
The tombstone of Queen Adelaine was salvaged and was later moved to the nearby Saint-Pierre de Montmartre.

Abbess Marie-Louise de Laval-Montmorency 1723-1794​

The chapel of the Louvre was known as the Oratory and was founded in 1616 by Marie de Medici who was acting as Queen Regent at the time.
It later became Royal Chapel of the Louvre in 1624 by Royal decree and was rebuilt.
The church was closed in 1792 and the priests were evicted, a mob sacked the church and Statues were pulled down but thankfully its art work was saved in time and were moved to the Museum of French Monuments.
Thankfully it was used as a bank until 1811 and saved from demolition .
It was then handed over to the French Calvinist community for worship and is still used.

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The older smaller church of Saint-Louis-du-Louvre was not as lucky and was completely demolished

 

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The Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Lucien de Beauvais was another victim of the Revolution.
It was founded in 585 and was sadly dissolved in January ,1791 when the monks were driven out . The abbey was pulled down and was in ruins by the early 1800's.

17th Century

19th Century

 

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The Notre-Dame-en-Cité Cathedral of Arras which dated from 1160 was another victim of the Terror .
In 1792 the cathedral was looted and vandalised and then used as a stables ,in 1793 another round of wanton vandalism and pillaging.
Altars,Statues ,monuments and stained glass were all smashed.
In 1795 the demolition of the gothic cathedral began and its rubble was sold off as stone to build housing!

The Cathedral in 1760

 

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The Abbaye Royale de Longchamp was a Poor Clares House that was founded by Princess Isabelle de France (sister of Louis IX) in 1230.
Isabelle died at Longchamp Abbey on the 23rd of February 1270, and was buried in the abbey church.
In September 1792 all valuables from the abbey were removed and in October the nuns were expelled from the abbey.
The abbey was pillaged and ransacked in 1793 and its demolition began in 1794.

L'abbaye Royale de Longchamp

The demolition and ruins

The now lost tomb of Isabelle de France

 

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Another statue of Louis XIV was toppled at the Place des Victoires in 1792

The murders of the Bishop de la Rochefoucault and Abbe Ermès at the start of the September Massacres

Massacre of priests and clergy

 

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The Sisters of Charity of Arras going to the Guillotine in June 1794.

 

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The Treasury of St Denis Abbey prior to its pillaging in 1792

The famous Cross of St Eloi belonged to the chapel of king Dagobert c630
It was destroyed in 1793 and the gold melted down and jewels removed.

The the bust reliquary of Saint Benedict too was melted down and some of the cameo jewels ended up on the Coronation crown of Napoleon I.
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