The lurking hypothetical planet
King Edward II (1284–1327), who reigned from 1307 to 1327, is buried in Gloucester Cathedral in Gloucestershire, England.
The final resting place of British monarch Queen Victoria (1819–1901) is the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore, near Windsor Castle. Her husband, Prince Albert, is also interred here.
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), Emperor of the French, is interred in the Dôme des Invalides, one of the most recognized of Parisian landmarks.
The remains of Ferdinand I (1503–1564) are interred in the Imperial Crypt beneath the Capuchin Church and monastery in Vienna, Austria. He was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556 until his death.
The final resting place of Louis IV (1282–1347), Holy Roman Emperor from 1328 until his death, is in the Frauenkirche, Munich's landmark cathedral.
King John (1166–1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death. He is especially known for granting the charter of civil liberties that became known as the Magna Carter. He is buried in Worcester Cathedral, Worcestershire.
The remains of King Pedro I (1320–1367) are set in an ornate marble tomb in the Monastery of Batalha, in central Portugal. Those of his lover, Inês de Castro, are interred in an equally decorative sepulcher. The doomed affair between Pedro and Inês is one of medieval Europe's most endearing love stories.
King Henry II of France (1519–1559) is buried alongside his wife, Catherine de' Medici, in the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris.
The Nieuwe Kerk in Delf is the final resting place of William of Orange (1533–1584). Also known as William the Silent, he was the main leader of the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years' War. His grandiose tomb is found among those of other members of the House of Orange-Nassau, including all Dutch monarchs.
The elaborately carved tomb of Afonso Henriques (1109/11–1185), the first king of Portugal, is found in the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Coimbra.
Known as Peter the Great, Peter I (1672–1725) was czar of Russia. He later ruled the Russian Empire jointly with his elder half-brother, Ivan V. Peter the Great is interred in Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, in Saint Petersburg.
Robert I (1274–1329), better known as Robert the Bruce, was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Revered as a national hero, he is buried in Dunfermline Abbey, Fife.
Queen of Scotland from 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567, Mary Stuart (1542–1587) was first buried in Peterborough Cathedral but later reinterred in a magnificent marble tomb in the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey, in London.
The Royal Chapel of Granada in Spain holds the remains of the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452–1516) and Isabella I of Castile (1451–1504).
King of Sweden from 1523 until his death, Gustav I (1496–1560), founder of the Vasa Dynasty and unifier of Sweden in the 16th century, is buried with his three wives, although only two are depicted on the sarcophagus, in the chapel behind the main altar of Uppsala Cathedral.
King Richard I (1157–1199), known as Richard the Lionheart, is buried alongside an effigy of Isabella of Angoulême in Fontevraud Abbey, Anjou. A second tomb containing the king's heart is at Rouen Cathedral.
In 2012, archaeologists unearthed a skeleton later identified as the mortal remains of Richard III (1452–1485). The king ruled England from 1483 until his death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. His original tomb was later destroyed, the corpse believed to have been disposed of. The remarkable find 527 years later afforded the monarch a reburial in Saint Martin's Cathedral in Leicester.
King of England from 1399 until his death, Henry IV (1367–1413) is buried along with his wife, Joan of Navarre, in Canterbury Cathedral. Their effigies are among the most ornate of any depicting former English monarchs.
Ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, Maria Theresa (1717–1780) and her husband, Emperor Francis I, are interred in an ostentatious double tomb in the Imperial Crypt beneath the Capuchin Church and monastery in Vienna, Austria.
Also found in the Imperial Crypt are the tombs of Emperor Franz Joseph I (1830–1916) flanked by his wife Elisabeth ("Sisi") and son Rudolf. In 1889, Rudolf took his own life; Sisi was assassinated in 1898, stabbed to death by Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni.
One of the most sumptuous and elegant of European royal tombs is that of Queen Margrethe I (1353–1412), found at St. Birgitta's Chapel in Roskilde Cathedral.
Christian III (1503–1559), King of Denmark and Norway, and Frederick II (1534–1588), who also reigned over the two nations, are laid to rest in sepulchral monumental style inside Denmark's Roskilde Cathedral.
The high altar in the Abbaye-aux-Hommes in Caen is the final resting place of William I (1028–1087), better known as William the Conqueror.
Also known as Edward Longshanks, Edward I (1239–1307) was king of England from 1272 until his death. He is buried at Westminster Abbey in London.
Sources: (Britannica) (DailyArt Magazine) (Historic UK) (History)
See also: Spectacular gravesites of famous people
Elizabeth I (1533–1603) the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs, reigned over England from 1558 until her death. Her large white marble tomb is located in Henry VII's chapel in Westminster Abbey.
The remains of the medieval emperor Charlemagne (747–814) are held in the Karlsschrein, a shrine decorated with gilt silver, gilt copper, filigree, precious stones, and enamel. It's located at Aachen Cathedral in Germany.
The remains of Louis XVI (1754–1793) and that of his wife, Marie Antoinette (1755–1793), are interred at the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris. Pictured are the memorial sculptures of the doomed pair. Louis XVI was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was later executed. Marie Antoinette met the same fate.
On February 1, 1908, Carlos I of Portugal was assassinated in Lisbon. His son and heir-apparent, Prince Luís Filipe, was also killed. Their twin tombs are housed at the Pantheon of the House of Braganza in the city's Monastery of São Vicente de Fora.
Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death, Maximilian I (1459–1519) was afforded a suitably regal burial in Innsbruck's Hofkirche (Court Church).
One of the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings, Edward the Confessor (1003–1066) is honored with a monumental tomb in a chapel in the heart of Westminster Abbey in London.
The imposing and overworked tomb of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI (1685–1740) is one of the more garish found among the 149 sarcophagi containing the remains of members of the Habsburg dynasty at the Imperial Crypt beneath the Capuchin Church and monastery in Vienna, Austria.
Throughout history, the wealth and privilege that came with being a member of a European royal family afforded a luxurious lifestyle most others could only dream of. But similarly, death, as in life, also brought with it lavishness and excess by way of a burial truly fit for a king or queen. Monarchs and emperors of old were honored with monumental tombs, ornate and embellished final resting places that reflected their status as absolute rulers of nations and peoples. Today, these showpiece sepulchers are as much tourist attractions as memorials to the mighty. But where can you admire the most sumptuous and ostentatious royal grave sites?
Click through and tour the tombs.
Europe's grandest royal tombs
Showpiece sepulchers of long-dead monarchs
LIFESTYLE History
Throughout history, the wealth and privilege that came with being a member of a European royal family afforded a luxurious lifestyle most others could only dream of. But similarly, death, as in life, also brought with it lavishness and excess by way of a burial truly fit for a king or queen. Monarchs and emperors of old were honored with monumental tombs, ornate and embellished final resting places that reflected their status as absolute rulers of nations and peoples. Today, these showpiece sepulchers are as much tourist attractions as memorials to the mighty. But where can you admire the most sumptuous and ostentatious royal grave sites?
Click through and tour the tombs.