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funerary statues of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

Built on the tomb of Saint Denis, the missionary bishop who died around 250 beheaded by the Romans, a first church was probably built in the fifth century. The Saint is often depicted carrying his severed head. From the death of King Dagobert, in 639, until the nineteenth century, the abbey church of Saint-Denis was the burial place of 40 kings and 26 queens. Many of the bodies were exhumed during the Revolution so the lead coffins could be melted down to make bullets; the bones were reinterred. Surviving tombs include those of Pepin the Short (father of Charlemagne), Henri II and Catherine de Medici, Francis I, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, and Louis XVIII. In addition to being intimately linked to the history of the kings of France, the building is considered one of the cradles of Gothic art. In order to ensure this abbey church continued to be a fit place for royal burials, in the twelfth century, the Basilica of Saint-Denis established itself as a new architectural masterpiece under the impetus of the Abbot Suger, advisor to Louis VI and Louis VII. It was gradually rebuilt in a new style, with innovative principles for the time, such as ribbed vaults and pointed arches. The church is bathed in light, a symbol of the divine, thanks to an exceptional glass surface. Considered a major construction of Gothic art, it contributed to the production of new buildings throughout Europe! The Basilica of the XIIe-XIIIe as we know it today, is 108 metres long and its vaults rise to 29 metres. Its immense transept is illuminated by two sumptuous roses of more than 12 meters in diameter which served as a model for Notre-Dame de Paris.

Built on the tomb of Saint Denis, the missionary bishop who died around 250 beheaded by the Romans, a first church was probably built in the fifth century. The Saint is often depicted carrying his severed head. From the death of King Dagobert, in 639, until the nineteenth century, the abbey church of Saint-Denis was the burial place of 40 kings and 26 queens. Many of the bodies were exhumed during the Revolution so the lead coffins could be melted down to make bullets; the bones were reinterred. Surviving tombs include those of Pepin the Short (father of Charlemagne), Henri II and Catherine de Medici, Francis I, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, and Louis XVIII. In addition to being intimately linked to the history of the kings of France, the building is considered one of the cradles of Gothic art. In order to ensure this abbey church continued to be a fit place for royal burials, in the twelfth century, the Basilica of Saint-Denis established itself as a new architectural masterpiece under the impetus of the Abbot Suger, advisor to Louis VI and Louis VII. It was gradually rebuilt in a new style, with innovative principles for the time, such as ribbed vaults and pointed arches. The church is bathed in light, a symbol of the divine, thanks to an exceptional glass surface. Considered a major construction of Gothic art, it contributed to the production of new buildings throughout Europe! The Basilica of the XIIe-XIIIe as we know it today, is 108 metres long and its vaults rise to 29 metres. Its immense transept is illuminated by two sumptuous roses of more than 12 meters in diameter which served as a model for Notre-Dame de Paris.