Basilica of Saint-Denis

Exterior

The west front

The west front of the church, dedicated on 9 June 1140, is divided into three sections, each with its own entrance, representing the Holy Trinity. A crenellated parapet runs across the west front and connects the towers (still unfinished in 1140), illustrating that the church front was the symbolic entrance to the celestial Jerusalem.

This new façade, 34 metres (112 ft) wide and 20 metres (66 ft) deep, has three portals, the central one larger than those on either side, reflecting the relative width of the central nave and lateral aisles. This tripartite arrangement was clearly influenced by the late-11th-century Norman-Romanesque façades of the abbey churches of St Etienne. It also shared with them a three-storey elevation and flanking towers. Only the south tower survives; the north tower was dismantled following a tornado which struck in 1846.

The west front was originally decorated with a series of column statues, representing the kings and queens of the Old Testament. These were removed in 1771 and were mostly destroyed during the French Revolution, though a number of the heads can be seen in the Musée de Cluny in Paris.

The bronze doors of the central portal are modern, but are a faithful reproduction of the original doors, which depicted the Passion of Christ and the Resurrection.

One other original feature was added by Suger's builders; a rose window over the central portal. Although small circular windows (oculi) within triangular tympana were common on the west facades of Italian Romanesque churches, this was probably the first example of a rose window within a square frame, which was to become a dominant feature of the Gothic facades of northern France (soon to be imitated at Chartres Cathedral and many others).

Chevet and transepts

The chevet, at the east end of the cathedral, was one of the first parts of the structure rebuilt into the Gothic style. The work was commissioned by Abbot Suger in 1140 and completed in 1144. It was considerably modified under the young King Louis IX and his mother, Blanche of Castille, the Regent of the Kingdom, beginning in 1231. The apse was built much higher, along with the nave. Large flying buttresses were added to the chevet, to support the upper walls, and to make possible the enormous windows installed there. The masons used the same engineering concept that was used at the Abbey of Saint-Martin-des-Champs to support the large chapel windows. At the same time, the transept was enlarged and given large rose windows in the new rayonnant style, divided into multiple lancet windows topped by trilobe windows and other geometric forms inscribed in circles. The walls of the nave on both sides were entirely filled with windows, each composed of four lancets topped by a rose, filling the entire space above the triforium. The upper walls, like the chevet, were supported by flying buttresses whose bases were placed between the chapels alongside the nave.

North and south portals

The Porte de Valois, or north portal, was originally built in the 12th century, near the end of Suger's life, then rebuilt at the end of the north transept in the 13th century. According to Suger, the original entrance on the north did not have sculpture, but mosaic, which Suger replaced by sculpture in 1540. It is considered an important step in the history of Gothic sculpture, because of the skill of the carving, and the lack of rigidity of the figures. There are six figures in the embrasures and thirty figures in the voussures, or arches above the door, which represent kings, probably those of the Old Testament, while the tympanum over the door illustrates the martyrdom of Saint-Denis and his companions Eleuthere and Rusticus. This portal was among the last works commissioned by Suger; he died in 1151, before it was completed. The original sculpture that was destroyed in the Revolution was replaced with sculpture from the early 19th century, made by Felix Brun.

The tympanum of the south portal illustrates the last days of the Denis and his companions before their martyrdom. The piedroits are filled with medallions representing the labours of the days of month.

Interior

The nave and choir

The nave, the portion to the west of the church reserved for ordinary worshippers, and the choir, the portion to the east reserved for the clergy, were rebuilt into the Gothic style in the 13th century, after the apse at the east and the west front. Like the other Gothic churches in the Ile-de-France, its walls had three levels; large arcades of massive pillars on the ground floor; a narrow triforium or passageway midway up the wall; originally windowless; and a row of high windows the clerestory, above. Slender columns rose from the pillars up the walls to support the four-part rib vaults. As a result of the Rayonnant reconstruction in the triforium was given windows, and the upper walls were entirely filled with glass, which reached upward into the arches of the vaults, flooding the church with light.

The disambulatory and chapels

The chevet had been constructed by Suger in record time, in just four years, between 1140 and 1144, and was one of the first great realisations of Gothic architecture. The double disambulatory is divided not by walls but by two rows of columns, while the outside walls, thanks to buttresses on the exterior, are filled with windows. The new system allowed light to pass into the interior of the choir. The disambulatory connects with the five radiating chapels at the east end of the cathedral, which have their own large windows. To give them greater unity, the five chapels share the same system of vaulted roofs. To make the walls between the chapels even less visible, they are masked with networks of slender columns and tracery.

The apse with its two ambulatories and axial chapels was extensively rebuilt in the 12th century, to connect harmoniously with the new and larger nave, but a major effort was made to save the early Gothic features created by Suger, including the double disambulatory with its large windows. To accomplish this, four large pillars were installed in the crypt to support the upper level, and the walls of the first traverse of the sanctuary were placed at an angle to connect with the wider transept.

The basilica retains stained glass of many periods (although most of the panels from Suger's time have been removed for long-term conservation and replaced with photographic transparencies), including exceptional modern glass, and a set of twelve misericords.

Crypt and royal tombs

The role of St. Denis as the necropolis of French kings formally began under Hugh Capet (987–996), but the tombs of several earlier kings were already located there. The site was chosen because of its association with St. Denis, the first Bishop of Paris and one of the earliest Christian leaders in France, who was buried there. All but three of the monarchs of France from the 10th century until 1793 have their remains here. The remains of some monarchs, including Clovis I (465–511), were moved to St. Denis from other churches.

The crypt beneath the church is divided into two sections; the older, called archeological crypt, is located under the transept, and was originally built in about 775, when the abbey was reconstructed by Abbot Fuldiad. It had a disambulatory, passage which allowed pilgrims to circulate around the relics of Saint Denis and his companions on display in the center. It was lit by alternating small windows in the walls and lamps placed in niches.

The crypt was rebuilt and extended eastward by Suger. The walls were decorated with blind arches, divided by columns whose capitals illustrate Biblical scenes and scenes from the life of St. Denis. Thirty-nine of the original Romanesque sixty-two capitals are still in place. Suger constructed a new disambulatory connected with radiating chapels.

During the reign of Henry IV, the central portion of this crypt was devoted the Bourbon dynasty, but the tombs themselves were simple lead coffins in wood cases. The effigies of many of the kings and queens are on their tombs, but during the French Revolution their bodies were thrown out of their coffins, dumped into three trenches and covered with lime to destroy them. The older monarchs were removed in August 1793 to celebrate the revolutionary Festival of Reunion, the Valois and Bourbon monarchs in October 1793 to celebrate the execution of Marie Antoinette. Preservationist Alexandre Lenoir saved many of the monuments by claiming them as artworks for his Museum of French Monuments. The bodies of several Plantagenet monarchs of England were likewise removed from Fontevraud Abbey during the French Revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte reopened the church in 1806, but left the royal remains in their mass graves. In 1817 the restored Bourbons ordered the mass graves to be opened, but only portions of three bodies remained intact. The remaining bones from 158 bodies were collected into an ossuary in the crypt of the church, behind marble plates bearing their names.

In later years, tombs were placed along the aisles that surrounded around the choir and the nave. In the 13th century King Louis IX (Saint Louis) commissioned a number of important tombs of earlier kings and French historical figures, whose remains were collected from other churches. These included the tombs of Clovis I, Charles Martel, Constance of Castile, Pepin the Short, Robert the Pious and Hugh Capet (which disappeared during the Revolution). The new tombs were all made in the same style and costume, with a reposing figure holding a staff, to illustrate the continuity of the French monarchy.

The tombs of the Renaissance expressed are theatrical and varied. The largest is that of Louis XII (died 1515) and his wife, Anne of Brittany (died 1514). It takes the form of a white marble temple filled and surrounded with figures. Inside it, the king and queen are depicted realistically in their dying agonies. Allegorical figures seated around the temple depict the virtues of the king and queen. On the roof of the tomb, the king and queen are shown again, kneeling and calmly praying, celebrating their victory over death, thanks to their virtues.

The monument to Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici (1559) followed a similar format; a Roman temple, in this case designed by the celebrated Renaissance architect Primatrice with sculpture on the roof depicting the king and queen in prayer. The king places his hand on his heart illustrating his Catholic faith a period of religious conflicts.

In the 19th century, following the restoration of the monarchy, Louis XVIII had the remains of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette brought to St. Denis. The body of the Dauphin, who died of illness and neglect at the hands of his revolutionary captors, was buried in an unmarked grave in a Parisian churchyard near the Temple. During Napoleon's exile in Elba, the restored Bourbons ordered a search for the corpses of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. They were found on 21 January 1815, brought to Saint-Denis and placed in the archeologi crypt. Their tombs are covered with black marble slabs installed in 1975.

Louis XVIII, upon his death in 1824, was buried in the centre of the crypt, near the graves of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The coffins of royal family members who died between 1815 and 1830 were also placed in the vaults. Under the direction of architect Viollet-le-Duc, church monuments that had been taken to the Museum of French Monuments were returned to the church. The corpse of Louis VII, who had been buried at Barbeau Abbey and whose tomb had not been touched by the revolutionaries, was brought to Saint-Denis and buried in the crypt. In 2004, the mummified heart of the Dauphin, the boy who would have been Louis XVII, verified to be authentic by DNA testing, was placed in a crystal vase and sealed into the wall of the crypt.

Sacristy

The Sacristy, the room where the clergy traditionally donned their vestments, was transformed by the architect Jacques Cellerier in 1812 into a Neo-classical gallery of murals which depict scenes from the history of the cathedral. A work added to the Sacristy is "Allegory of the Divine Word", a painting by Simon Vouet, which originally had been commissioned by Louis XIII for the retable of the Chateau of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. It was acquired for the cathedral by the administration of national monuments in 1993. The wall cases also display a selection of precious objects from the cathedral's collection.

Art and decoration

Stained glass

Abbot Suger commissioned a large amount of stained glass for the new chevet, but only very small amount of the original glass from the time of Suger survived intact. In the 19th century it was collected by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, and was integrated into windows in the chevet. Original glass includes the figure of Suger prostrating himself at the feet of the Virgin Mary, in the window called "The Childhood of Christ"; and kneeling in the lower right corner of the Tree of Jesse, illustrating the genealogy of Christ, in the Axis chapel; the "Allegories of Saint Paul" and "The Life of Moses" in the fourth radiating chapel on the north; "The vision of Ezekiel under the sign of tau", originally from a group illustrating the Passion of Christ, in the fourth rayonnant chapel on the south, in the left bay and third register. Another piece of original window from Suger's time, depicting mythical Griffonsa a symbol of Paradise, is found in the second radiating chapel on the north. Other scenes which Suger described, showing the pilgrimage of Charlemagne and the Crusades, have disappeared.

Much of the current stained glass dates to the 19th century, as the church began to be restored from the damage of the Revolution. The architect François Debret designed the first Neo-Gothic windows of the nave in 1813. these include the upper windows of the nave, which represent the kings and queens of France. Later upper windows of the south transept depict the restoration of the church, and particularly the visit there of Louis Philippe I, the last king of France, in 1837. This large group of windows was designed by the painter Jean-Baptiste Debret, the brother of the architect.

Sculpture

The new west front sculpture of St. Denis had an important influence on Gothic style. The influential features of the new façade include the tall, thin statues of Old Testament prophets and kings attached to columns (jamb figures) flanking the portals (destroyed in 1771 but recorded in Montfaucon's drawings). These were also adopted at the cathedrals of Paris and Chartres, constructed a few years later, and became a feature of almost every Gothic portal thereafter.

The statues on the portal of the Valois, on the transept of the Saint Denis, made in 1175, have very elongated and expressive figures, and also had an important effect on Gothic sculpture. They were the opposite of the more restrained and dignified figures of Chartres Cathedral, made about the same time.

Above the doorways, the central tympanum was carved with Christ in Majesty displaying his wounds with the dead emerging from their tombs below. Scenes from the martyrdom of St. Denis were carved above the south (right hand) portal, while above the north portal was a mosaic (lost), even though this was, as Suger put it 'contrary to the modern custom'. Of the original sculpture, very little remains, most of what is now visible being the result of rather clumsy restoration work in 1839. Some fragments of the original sculptures survive in the collection of the Musée de Cluny.

Choir stalls

The choir stalls, the seats reserved for the clergy, have particularly fine carvings, particularly on the misericord, the small seat on each stall on which the clergy could rest when standing for long periods of time. The stalls were made in the 16th century, and were originally located in the high chapel of the Chateau de Gaillon in the Eure Department. In 1805 Napoleon Bonaparte decided to create three new chapels at Saint-Denis, as well as a chapter of bishops under the authority of his uncle, Cardinal Fesch. The stalls were moved to Saint-Denis and installed for their use. Besides the carved wood, the stalls are decorated with elaborate multi-coloured religious scenes in marquetry.

Organ

The organ is located on the tribune, at the west of the nave. An organ is recorded as existing at the basilica in 1520. A later organ, made by Crespin Carlier, is recorded in 1520, but this instrument was destroyed during the French Revolution. The church re-opened in 1806 without an organ. A competition was held in 1833 to find a new builder. It was won by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, age twenty-three, and was his first organ. It was completed in 1843, and launched his career as an organ-maker.

It contains numerous innovations introduced in the romantic area, in particular the very first Barker lever. With three manuals and pedals, it is protected by the Monument historique label. It was restored in 1901 by Charles Mutin, and between 1983 and 1987 by Jean-Loup Boisseau and Bertrand Cattiaux. Pierre Pincemaille, sole titular organist for 30 years (between 1987 and 2018), held many recitals (between 1989 and 1995, then between 2014 and 2017), and recorded eight CDs using this instrument.

Treasury

The cathedral contained an extensive treasury, mainly constituted by the Abbot Suger. It contained crowns (those of Charlemagne, Saint Louis, and Henry IV of France), a cross, and liturgical objects.

Burials

Kings

All but five of the kings of France were buried in the basilica (with Charlemagne, Philip I, Louis XI, Charles X and Louis Philippe I buried elsewhere), as well as a few other monarchs. The remains of the early monarchs were removed from the destroyed Abbey of St Genevieve. Some of the more prominent monarchs buried in the basilica are:

• Clovis I (466–511)
• Childebert I (496–558)
• Aregund (515/520–580)
• Fredegund (third wife of Chilperic I), (died 597)
• Dagobert I (603–639)
• Clovis II (634–657)
• Charles Martel (686–741)
• Pepin the Short (714–768) and his wife, Bertrada of Laon (born 710–727, died 783)
• Charles the Bald (823–877) (his brass monument was melted down during the Revolution) and his first wife, Ermentrude of Orléans (823–869)
• Carloman II (866–884)
• Robert II of France (972–1031) and his third wife, Constance of Arles (986–1032)
• Henry I of France (1008–1060)
• Louis VI of France (1081–1137)
• Louis VII of France (1120–1180) and his second wife, Constance of Castile (1140–1160)
• Philip II of France (1165–1223)
• St. Louis IX of France (1214–1270)
• Charles I of Naples (1227–1285), an effigy covers his heart burial
• Philip III of France (1245–1285) and his first wife, Isabella of Aragon, Queen of France (1248–1271)
• Philip IV of France (1268–1314)
• Philip VI of France (1293–1350) The first Valois King Of France.
• Leo V, King of Armenia (1342–1393) (cenotaph)
• Charles VII, King of France (1403–1461)
• Charles VIII, King of France (1470–1498)
• Louis XII of France (1462–1515)
• Francis I of France (1494–1547)
• Henry II (1519–1559) and Catherine de' Medici (1519–1589)
• Francis II (1544–1560)
• Charles IX (1550–1574) (no monument)
• Henry III (1551–1589), also King of Poland (heart burial monument)
• Henry IV (1553–1610)
• Louis XIII (1601–1643)
• Louis XIV (1638–1715)
• Louis XV (1710–1774)
• Louis XVI (1754–1793) and Marie Antoinette (1755–1793)
• Louis XVII (1785–1795) (only his heart; his body was dumped into a mass grave)
• Louis XVIII (1755–1824)

Remains still buried there

After the French Revolution, many remains of French kings or nobles were taken and thrown in mass graves. Only a few were seemingly left untouched.

• Aregund (515/520–580)
• Dagobert I (603–639)
• Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne (1611–1675), Maréchal General de France.

Others were buried or reburied there after the revolution.

• Louis XVI (1754–1793) and Marie-Antoinette (1755–1793)
• Louis XVII (1785–1795)
• Louis VII (1120–1180)
• Louise of Lorraine (1553–1601), wife of Henri III
• Victoire (1733–1799) and Adélaïde (1732–1800), daughters of Louis XV
• Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé (1736–1818)
• Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry (1778–1820)
• Louis XVIII (1755–1824)

Most other pre-1793 Bourbon/Capetian remains at Saint-Denis are mixed in the Revolutionary ossuary and haven't been identified. It is also important to note that next kings or rulers or princes weren't buried there as most of them died in exile.

Other royalty and nobility

• Charles, Count of Valois (1270–1325), son of Philip III, founder of the Valois dynasty and father of King Philip VI.
• Blanche of France (daughter of Philip IV)
• Nicolas Henri, Duke of Orléans (1607–1611), son of Henry IV
• Gaston, Duke of Orléans (1608–1660), son of Henry IV
  • Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier (1605–1627), wife of Gaston
  • Marguerite of Lorraine (1615–1672), Duchess of Orléans and second wife of Gaston
  • Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans (1627–1693), la Grande Mademoiselle
  • Jean Gaston d'Orléans (1650–1652), Duke of Valois
  • Marie Anne d'Orléans (1652–1656), Mademoiselle de Chartres
• Henrietta Maria of France (1609–1669), wife of Charles I of Scotland and England
• Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (1640–1701), brother of Louis XIV
  • Princess Henrietta of England (1644–1670), first wife of Philippe
  • Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate (1652–1722), second wife of Philippe
• Maria Theresa of Spain (1638–1683), consort of Louis XIV
  • Louis of France (1661–1711), le Grand Dauphin
  • Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria (1660–1690), Dauphine of France, wife of Louis
  • Princess Anne Élisabeth of France (1662), daughter of Louis XIV
  • Princess Marie Anne of France (1664), daughter of Louis XIV
  • Marie Thérèse of France (1667–1672), daughter of Louis XIV
  • Philippe Charles, Duke of Anjou (1668–1671), Duke of Anjou, son of Louis XIV
  • Louis François of France (1672), Duke of Anjou, son of Louis XIV
• Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1674–1723), Regent of France
• Louis of France (1682–1712), Duke of Burgundy, later Dauphin of France
  • Marie Adélaïde of Savoy (1685–1712), Duchess of Burgundy, later Dauphine of France
  • Louis of France (1704–1705), Duke of Brittany
  • Louis of France (1707–1712), Duke of Brittany
• Charles of France (1686–1714), Duke of Berry
  • Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans (1695–1719), Duchess of Berry
  • Na (not baptized) d'Alençon (1711)
  • Charles d'Alençon(1713) Duke of Alençon
  • Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Alençon (1714)
• Marie Leszczyńska (1703–1768), consort of Louis XV
  • Louise-Élisabeth of France (1727–1759), Duchess of Parma
  • Henriette of France (1727–1752), daughter of Louis XV and twin of the above
  • Louise of France (1728–1733), daughter of Louis XV
  • Louis of France (1729–1765), Dauphin of France (only his heart; his body was buried in the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne)
    • Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (1726–1746), first wife of above
  • Philippe of France (1730–1733), Duke of Anjou
  • Princess Adélaïde of France (1732–1800), daughter of Louis XV
  • Princess Victoire of France (1733–1799), daughter of Louis XV
  • Princess Sophie of France (1734–1782), daughter of Louis XV
  • Princess Louise of France (1737–1787), daughter of Louis XV,
  • Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France (1781–1789), first son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
  • Princess Sophie Hélène Béatrice of France (1786–1787), second daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
• Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne (1611–1675), Maréchal General de France.

Timeline

• c. 250 AD – Martyrdom of Saint Denis
• After 313 – Construction of first basilica
• 451–459 – Basilica enlarged by Saint Genevieve
• 626–639 – Further enlargement by Dagobert, first king to have sepulchre in the church
• 775 – New church dedicated in presence of Charlemagne
• 1122–1151 – Suger is Abbot of Saint-Denis
• 1140–1144 – Reconstruction of the chevet with Gothic features
• 1231 – Reconstruction of the upper chevet and the nave
• 1267 – Louis IX inaugurates the royal necropolis
• c. 1320–1324 – Construction of six chapels along the north side of nave
• 1364 – Charles V of France commissions his tomb in the church
• 1572 – Beginning of the construction of the mausoleum of the Valois dynasty
• 1771 – Removal of the statue-columns installed by Suger on the west front
• 1792 – Final office celebrated by the monks, following the French Revolution
• 1805 – Beginning of restoration ordered by Napoleon
• 1813 – New restoration begun by architect François Debret
• 1845 – Collapse of Debret's rebuilt north spire. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc becomes chief architect of restoration.
• 1862 – The basilica is classified a French historical monument.
• 1966 – The basilica becomes the cathedral of the new department of Seine-Saint-Denis.
• 2004 – The heart of Louis XVII is transferred to the chapel of the Bourbons.

Abbots

References and sources