Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
BASILIQUE DE ST-DENIS
Once one of the most sacred sites in the country, the basilica was built atop the tomb
of St Denis, the 3rd-century martyr and alleged first bishop of Paris who was be-
headed by Roman priests. A popular pilgrimage site, by the 6th century it had become
the royal necropolis: all but a handful of France's kings and queens from Dagobert I (r
629-39) to Louis XVIII (r 1814-24) were buried here (today it holds the remains of 42
kings and 32 queens).
The single-towered basilica, begun around 1136, was the first major structure in
France to be built in the Gothic style, serving as a model for other 12th-century French
cathedrals, including the one at Chartres. Features illustrating the transition from
Romanesque to Gothic can be seen in the choir and double ambulatory, which are ad-
orned with a number of 12th-century stained-glass windows.
The tombs in the crypt - Europe's largest collection of funerary art - are the real
reason to make the trip out here, however. Adorned with
gisants
(recumbent figures),
those made after 1285 were carved from death masks and are thus fairly lifelike; earli-
er sculptures are depictions of how earlier rulers might have looked.
DON'T MISS…
The stained-glass windows
The royal tombs
PRACTICALITIES
GOOGLE MAP
1 rue de la Légion d'Honneur
tombs adult/senior & 18-25yr €7.50/4.50, basilica free
10am-6.15pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun Apr-Sep, to 5pm Oct-Mar
Basilique de St-Denis
