Royal vault of Dreux

The royal vault Saint-Louis of Dreux is the necropolis of the family of Orleans.

In the beginning Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duke of Penthièvre, constrained to leave Rambouillet with Louis XVI, his cousin, who yielded to him the county of Dreux in 1775, makes transfer from the church of Rambouillet on November 25th, 1783 the nine coffins containing the bodies of his parents, the count and the countess of Toulouse, of his wife Marie-Happiness of Este, princess of Modena, their son prince de Lamballe, and of their five other dead children in low age. He chooses like burial for his family collegial Saint-Etienne de Dreux.

In the night from March 6th to 7th 1793 the body of the duke, died with Bizy on March 4th, is transported and buried clandestinely in Dreux between the count de Toulouse and his wife. November 21st, 1793, in order to recover leads of the burials, the vault is violated, the bodies are extracted from it and " jetés in a deep pit of six pieds" in the cemetery of the canons, whose site will be recognized later by Lefebvre and Cholet, former servants of the Bourbon-Penthièvre.

In September 1797, four years after having imprisoned with the prison of Luxembourg, the duchess of Orleans, only daughter of the duke, is expelled of France; the castle and the collegial one, goods sequestered since the death of his/her father, are confiscated with the profit of the Nation and are sold on April 2nd, 1798 to a Chartres-native wood merchant which demolishes the church to recover materials of them and resells in 1801 the field with François Belois, mason with Dreux.

February 14th, 1816, the duchess repurchases the ground made to him build a vault by Charles-Philippe Cramail, Parisian architect, responsible as of October 1814 for this project. It opens the building site at the beginning of May 1816 with the site of the common grave and the 1st stone is posed on September 19th. Certain materials come from the demolition of the old Benedictine abbey of Coulombs, close to Nogent-The-King, and of the ruins of the castle of Ferté-Vidame.

From spring 1839, this vault of neo-gothic style was increased by his/her son, the king Louis-Philippe, who made of it the necropolis of his family and his descendants, from where the name of " Saint-Denis of Orléans". Ours and Victor Hugo told the translation of the remainders of its ancestors on April 23rd, 1844, to which the king himself contributed.

The primitive vault was then supplemented thanks to additions of neo-gothic style and with 1843 to 1845 its many windows were furnished with sumptuous stained glasses all carried out with the manufacture of Sevres on drawings of Eugene Delacroix, Hippolyte Flandrin, Dominique Ingres - which reproduced the stained glasses of the funerary vault of Neuilly (1842) - Horace Vernet, Eugene Purple-the-Duke having drawn architectural ornaments framing twelve figures of saints and holy. A score of tombs, gathered around the royal burial, are overcome the lying ones, works of the best sculptors of their time.

The arrow of the vault of the Virgin who sheltered a bell was destroyed by the lightning in July 1875, and not rebuilt; August 15th, 1944, of the German shells damaged the déambulatoire, destroyed three of the eight canopies on the life of Saint-Louis placed in 1843, as well as sculptures and lying.

Bequeathed with the castle of Dreux by Henri of Orleans (1908-1999), count de Paris, the vault belongs from now on to the Fondation Saint-Louis.

Burials of the family of Orleans

Vault of the Virgin :

01 - Ferdinand-Philippe of Orleans, royal prince and duke of Orleans. Lying of Pierre Loison.

02 - Helene de Mecklembourg-Schwerin, her wife (it rests in a separate vault). Buried in the vault Saint-Charles Borromée with Weybridge, transferred in 1876. Lying of Henri Chapu.

03 - Clementine of Austria, princess of Salerno, mother of the duchess of Aumale. Lying of Charles-Joseph Lenoir.

04 - Adelaide of Orleans, Miss de Chartres then Miss d' Orléans, sister of Louis-Philippe I {{er}}, king of the French. Lying of Aime Millet.

05 - Louise Marie Adelaide of Bourbon, duchess of Orleans. Lying of Jean-Auguste Barre. Its tomb also contains the remainders of the Bourbon-Penthièvre (see will infra).

06 and 07 - Louis-Philippe I {{er}} of Orleans, king of the French and his wife Amélie de Bourbon, princess of Deux-Siciles, buried in the vault Saint-Charles Borromée in Weybridge, they was transferred the 6/9/1876 in the royal vault Saint-Louis. (Group of Antonin Mercié, 1886 °.

northern Déambulatoire side :

08 - Bathilde of Orleans (1750 -1822), princess of Cop, duchess of Bourbon.

09 - Philippe of Orleans (1838 - 1894), count de Paris, buried in the vault Saint-Charles Borromée in Weybridge, transferred in 1958.

10 - Marie-Isabelle of Orleans (1848 - 1919), countess of Paris, buried in the vault Saint-Charles Borromée in Weybridge, transferred in 1958.

11 - Philippe of Orleans (1869 - 1926), duke of Orleans, transferred in the royal vault from Dreux in 1931. Lying of Maxime Real del Sarte.

12 - Ferdinand of Orleans (1884 - 1924), “duke of Montpensier” (lying by Maxime Real del Sarte?)

13 - Victoire-Auguste of Saxony-Cobourg-Gotha, duchess of Nemours, buried in the vault Saint-Charles Borromée in Weybridge, transferred in 1979.

14 - Henri of Orleans (1822 - 1897), duke of Aumale. Lying of Paul Dubois.

15 - Marie-Caroline of Bourbon (1822 - 1869), princess of Deux-Siciles, duchess of Aumale, buried in the vault Saint-Charles Borromée in Weybridge, transferred in 1876. Lying of Charles-Joseph Lenoir.

16 - François of Orleans (1854 - 1872), “duke of Own way”, wire of the duke of Aumale.

17 - Louis Philippe of Orleans (1845 - 1866), prince de Condé, wire of the duke of Aumale.

18 to 24 - in a tomb double the bodies of 6 children of the duke of Aumale buried in the vault Saint-Charles Borromée in Weybridge, transferred in 1876.

25 and 26 - Ferdinand of Orleans (1859 - 1873), infant of Spain and his/her Louis brother of Orleans (1867 - 1874). Lying of Aime Millet with the figure of " the Voilé" Child;.

27 and 28 - Charles of Orleans and Jacques of Orleans, children of Philippe of Orleans, count de Paris. Lying of Louis Julien; marble by Franceschi.

29 - Charles of Orleans (1820 - 1828), duke of Penthièvre, wire of Louis-Philippe I {{er}}, king of the French. Lying of James Pradier.

Déambulatoire southern part :

30 - Francoise of Orleans (1816 - 1818), Miss de Montpensier. Lying of James Pradier.

31 - Louis of Orleans (1814 - 1896), duke of Nemours. Lying of Pierre Countryside.

32 - Sophie-Charlotte of Bavaria (1847 - 1897), duchess of Alençon. Lying of Charles-Albert Walhain.

33 - Ferdinand of Orleans (1844 - 1910), duke of Alençon. Lying of Charles-Albert Walhain.

34 - François of Orleans (1818 - 1900), prince de Joinville. Lying of Antonin Mercié.

35 - Francoise de Bragance (1824 - 1898), princess of Joinville.

36 and 37 - children of the prince de Joinville and the duke of Chartres.

38 - In a tomb doubles Jean of Orleans (1874 - 1940), “duke of Own way”, and

39 - Isabelle of Orleans (1878 - 1961), “duchess of Own way”.

40 - Pierre of Orleans (1845 - 1919), duke of Penthièvre.

41 - Sophie of Orleans (1898 - 1928), girl of the “duke of Vendôme”. Lying of Charles-Albert Walhain.

42 - Emmanuel of Orleans (1872 - 1931), “duke of Vendôme”.

43 - Henriette of Belgium (1870 - 1948), “duchess of Vendôme”.

44 - Robert of Orleans (1866 - 1885), wire of the duke of Chartres.

45 - Henri of Orleans (1867 - 1901), wire of the duke of Chartres. Lying of Antonin Mercié.

46 - Francoise of Orleans, duchess of Chartres. Lying of Paul Gasq.

47 - Robert of Orleans (1840 - 1910), duke of Chartres. Lying of Antonin Mercié.

48 - Marie of Orleans (1813 - 1839), duchess of Wurtemberg, girl of Louis-Philippe Ier, king of the French. Lying of Hector Lemaire. She carved the Angel of the Resignation which surmounts its tomb.

circular Crypt :

49 - Isabelle of Orleans and Bragance (1911 - 2003), “countess of Paris”.

50 - François of Orleans (1935 - 1960), “duke of Orleans”.

51 - Henri of Orleans (1908 - 1999), “count de Paris”.

Crypt gallery :

52 - Antoine of Orleans and Bragance (1881 - 1918).

53 - Louis of Orleans and Bragance (1878 - 1920). Lying by Jean Magrou.

54 - Maria-Pia of Bourbon (1878 - 1973), its wife.

55 - Louis-Gaston of Orleans and Bragance (1911 - 1931).

56 - Thibaut of Orleans (1948 - 1983), “count of Walk”.

57 - Louis-Philippe of Orleans (1979 - 1980), wire of the “count of Walk”.

The lying one of Antoine of Orleans, duke of Montpensier, buried in the Abbey of Westminster, copy by Trouchaud of the work of Westmacott, and that of Louis Charles of Orleans, count de Beaujolais, by Pradier, buried in the Midsummer's Day cathedral with Malta were removed museum of Versailles to be placed in the vault in 1986.

(source: J.LELIEVRE, " the royal vault of Dreux" , SAEP edition, 1986)

Three copies of these cenotaphs are in the nave of the neo-classic vault of the castle of Randan (1831), auvergnat field of Adelaide of Orleans of 1821 to 1847.

Caveaux inferiors of which old the " vault of Penthièvre":

58 - Louis François Joseph de Bourbon (1734 - 1814), prince de Conti, brother-in-law of the duke of Penthièvre, dead exiled in Barcelona and transferred here in 1844.

59 - ballot box containing the heart of Philippe of Orleans (1674 - 1723), Regent of France during the minority of the future Louis XV.

60 - ballot box containing the remainders of a family member of Bourbon “- Conti”.

61 - ballot box containing the heart of Miss de Montpensier, girl of Louis-Philippe.

nongiven Place :

62 - Charles Philippe of Orleans (1905 - 1970), “duke of Nemours”.

63 - Marguerite Watson (1899 - 1993), “duchess of Nemours”.

64 - Jacques-Marie Rouzet, count de Folmont.

65 - the heart of Louis-Jean-Marie de Bourbon, duke of Penthièvre, would have been also saved and would be in the vault.

Burials of the Bourbon-Penthièvre

the tomb of the duchess of Orleans contains also the remainders of the Bourbon-Penthièvre :

66 - Louis-Alexandre of Bourbon (1678 - 1737), count de Toulouse.

67 - Marie-Victoire de Noailles (1688 - 1766), countess of Toulouse.

68 - Louis-Jean-Marie de Bourbon (1725 - 1793), duke of Penthièvre.

69 - Marie-Happiness of Este-Modena (1726 - 1754), duchess of Penthièvre.

70 - Louis-Marie de Bourbon (1746 - 1749), duke of Rambouillet.

71 - Louis de Bourbon (1747 - 1768), prince de Lamballe.

72 - Jean-Marie de Bourbon (1748 - 1755), duke of Châteauvillain.

73 - Vincent de Bourbon (1750 - 1752), count de Guingamp.

74 - Marie-Louise de Bourbon (1751 - 1753), Miss de Penthièvre.

75 - Louis de Bourbon (1754 - 1754).

Source for the tombs

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