THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SAINT-DENIS BASILICA

 

THE LEGEND: THE CHURCH IS BUILT ON THE SITE WHERE SAINT DENIS,COLLAPSES AND DIES*

(TOWARD 250)

   

*A Christian missionary, he was the first bishop of the Paris region and with Joan of Arc, is France's most famous martyr.

Heights are often hallowed and the site for beheading Denis and his two companions was a Roman shrine:

View of the Montmartre Hilltop (detail) by Lucien Marchais, 1902 / Sotheby's

Legend has him pick up his head and still preaching, continue along the path:

Adapted from a Google map

The hill appears in paintings about the event:

  The Crucifixion and Episodes of the Life of 

Saint Denis, retable of Saint Denis by 

Henri Bellechose, 1416 / zoom

He is shown holding his head in his hands:

Western tympanum, Saint-Denis basilica

Corey Frye

Facade of Notre-Dame Cathedral

      Zoom (please scroll down)

Abbey of Saint-Germain, Auxerre

 Zoom

Church of the Holy Trinity, Paris 9th, 19th century

Impasse Girardon, Paris 18th (near the Basilica) / Trip Advisor

A modern statue

That path, a trade route, is one tangible aspect of the legend. Others: 

• The saint holds his head in his hands: Decapitation is difficult and executioners might try a number of times before the head was actually severed.

• The spot where he is said to have collapsed was a Gallo-Roman cemetery:

Saint-Denis, une ville au Moyen Âge

Gallo-Roman tombs found near the church.

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Next,

Detour:

Right-wing extremists use medieval imagery