Saturday, June 11,2022

An often overlooked site about 40 minutes north of the Eiffel Tower is a history and architecture lover’s dream.

The church stands on the site of a Gallo-Roman cemetery with the tomb of Saint Denis, thought to have been the first Bishop of Paris who was martyred in 250 A.D. Later Rusticus and Eleuthere also martyred with St. Denis were also buried on the same site. The tombs of these holy martyrs soon became a focal point of worship, leading St. Genevieve to build a basilica on the site around 465 A.D.

A monastic community that appeared in the 7th century made St. Denis one of the most important and richest monasteries in Gaul. Charles Martel leader of the Franks who defeated the Moors at the Battle of Tours in 732, decided to be interred here followed by virtually every French king that followed.

In the 12th century, Albert Suger Abbot of St. Denis turned the existing abbey into a masterpiece of what came to be known as Gothic art, the building is considered to be the first to employ all the elements of Gothic architecture with its completed choir in 1144. Suger rebuilt the church using new architectural techniques including a rose window and cross-ribbed vaulting bathing the building in colored light from beautiful stained glass windows.

With Notre Dame de Paris cloaked in scaffolding from the recent fire a trip to St. Denis provides a fix for lovers of grand Gothic architecture. We took a cab up to St. Denis on a Saturday morning, it was not crowded and we were able to take our time viewing the church, the effigies and tombs. Like all great Gothic churches, it is a beautiful space and the effigies and tombs add to the historic milieu.

St. Denis

Let’s not lose our heads over this one.

St. Denis thought to have been the first Bishop of Paris was martyred in 250 A.D. St. Denis was tortured and decapitated by the Romans on Montmarte (mountain of martyrs) in Paris. Apparently the Romans didn’t like that St. Denis was doing a good job of converting locals to Christianity so they decided to torture him and cut off his head. Legend states that St. Denis picked up his own decapitated head and continued to preach about forgiveness of his executors for several miles to the present location of the church. Or so the story goes…………..

St. Denis is the patron saint of France. Typical depictions of the saint show him carrying his severed head.