Emperor Napoleon bequeathed, "
I wish my ashes to rest on the banks of the Seine, among the French people whom I loved so dearly”.
Bonaparte's last will was carried out only 19 years after his death on St. Helena. On December 15, 1840, the remains of the great commander were solemnly reburied in the cathedral of the Invalides House in Paris. It was not until April 2, 1861, in the presence of Napoleon III, that the coffin with the body of the Emperor was for ever immured in a sarcophagus made of dark-red Karelian stone known as Shoksha porphyry, which was used in the construction of the altar at St. Isaac's Cathedral and the frieze of the Engineers' Castle. And Russia gave this stone to the French, despite the fact that they wanted to buy it.
“
What a strange fate of the Emperor Napoleon. He lost his glory in the fight against Russia, and Russia builds him a tombstone."
So said Nicholas I, giving France 40 tons of Karelian crimson quartzite for Napoleon's sarcophagus.
