Patronage: Restoration of the tomb of Caroline Murat, Florence
On 16 November, a mass was celebrated in the Church of Ognissanti in Florence, on the occasion of the opening to the public of the funerary chapel of Caroline Murat, recently restored.
The ceremony was attended by Isabelle Mallez (Honorary Consul of France), HRH Prince Murat, members of the Murat family, Presidents of the Napoleonic Souvenir and Friends of the Murat Museum, Delegates of the Napoleonic Souvenir in Italy, Friends of Pizzo Calabro as well as civilian and military personalities.
Queen Caroline died in Florence on 18 May 1839, and was buried in secret in the church of Ognissanti, the Bonaparte family being proscribed. In 1841, an official commission authorised the burial of the body in a small room behind the Botticelli chapel, where it now rests. In 1869, a crypt was erected on this site. Since the 1930s, no restoration work had been undertaken. The restoration of 2016 covered the construction and layout of the chapel (roof, marble floor, door, wall paintings) and its environment (commemorative plaques, educational panels).
This operation was sponsored by the Fondation Napoléon, the Souvenir Napoléonien and the Friends of the Musée Murat, as well as a subscription to the descendants of Queen Caroline in France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Great Britain and the United States.
See some photographs on our Facebook page.
Le 23 November 2016
