The Basilica of Saint-Denis is a place of pilgrimage and a necropolis containing the tombs of the Kings of France, including nearly every king from the 10th century to Louis XVIII in the 19th century.
The building is of singular importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, is widely considered the first structure to employ all of the elements of Gothic architecture.
Henry IV of France came to Saint-Denis to formally renounce his Protestant faith and become a Catholic.
The Queens of France were crowned at Saint-Denis, and the royal regalia, including the sword used for crowning the kings and the royal sceptre, were kept at Saint-Denis between coronations.
The site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. Around the year 475 AD, St. Genevieve purchased some land and built Saint-Denys de la Chapelle. In 636, the relics of Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, were reinterred in the basilica. The relics of St-Denis, which had been transferred to the parish church of the town in 1795, were brought back again to the abbey in 1819.
30 июл 2023
