Basilique de Saint Denis

One of the places Kelly had always wanted to visit was the St. Denis Basilica.

St. Denis

St. Denis is the patron saint of France.  St. Denis was the first Bishop of Paris and was martyred about 250 AD.  According to legend, his head was chopped off at Montmartre and he bent down, picked it up and walked about two miles, handed his head to a Christian woman, and collapsed.  An Abbey and later a church was built at the site.  It is easy to recognize the statue of St. Denis in one of the portals of Notre Dame in Paris because he is holding his head.

St. Denis at Notre Dame de Paris

In the 12th Century, Suger, the Abbot of Saint-Denis, was an influential political figure.  The church and abbey were pretty dilapidated and he set about to raise the funds to rebuild it.  The architects drew from numerous sources, creating the rose window and cross-ribbed vaulting that bathed the church in colored light.  This was the invention of Gothic architecture.

Entrance to St. Denis

The weather is  still bitter cold and it wasn't any warmer in the church.  But my new wool scarf sure helped! 

Audrey, Samantha, Madeleine, Mary Claire, Kate and Jeanene inside St. Denis

St. Denis Stained Glass

Rose Window

Ashlie, Brooke, Mary Claire, Madeleine, Audrey, Kate, Rebecca, Samantha and Christi

I noticed a poster in the Basilica advertising a pilgrimage to Lourdes in France.  This is where the Virgin Mary appeared to a peasant girl, Bernadette, and many people come from all over the world to be healed.  It brought back memories of when my mother and I went to Lourdes in southern France over 30 years ago when I was on Study Abroad in Paris.

Saint Denis is also famous because it is where almost all of the royalty of France are buried, beginning with Clovis who died in 511 AD.  St. Denis is called the Royal Necropolis.  We saw many tombs, plaques and memorials.

Phoebe and the Tombs-the Queen has a Dog at her Feet

Queen Berthe 726-783, Wife of Pepin the Short.  She was called "Big Foot."

Praying Royalty

The tomb of François I and his wife Claude were interesting.  They had their own mausoleum which made it difficult to see the tombs inside.  Unlike the other carvings on top of the tombs, they were depicted life-like and naked, with hands strategically placed.  You can see their bare feet in this picture.

François I and Claude

Henri IV

Stained Glass

Underneath the Basilica in the crypt were more tombs and plaques.  There were pretty stained glass windows, too.
After we had looked at all the tombs, a couple of the students asked us where the tomb of George V was.  There is a metro stop along the Champs-Élysée called George V and they wanted to find him.  They couldn't believe it when we told them that George V was a British king.  They were so disappointed.






Louis XVII was the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.  After his parents were beheaded, he was imprisoned for three years and died of tuberculosis at the age of 10.  The doctor who did his autopsy cut out his heart, concealed it in a handkerchief, pickled it in alcohol, and kept it as a curiosity.  But there were rumors at the time that another child was put in his place in prison and that the real Louis XVII was spirited away and alive and well.  Over 100 men claimed that they were Louis XVII.  In 2000, DNA tests were done with the heart and hair from Marie Antoinette and it was confirmed that they shared the same DNA.  A royal funeral was held in 2004 and the mummified heart, in a glass vase, and a monument to Louis XVII were placed in the crypt.

More Tombs

Louis XVII's Heart

Kelly on the South Side of St. Denis

Kate's fingers had turned blue and she couldn't feel her toes so we decided it was time to head home.  We had finally seen St. Denis and hope to come back when it is warmer to do more exploring.