Saint Denis Basilica Cathedral

Easter afternoon, we hopped on the metro and went to Saint Denis Basilica Cathedral.  St. Denis is right outside of Paris.  Like St. Denis, Pierre is holding onto his head.  The basilica stands on the site of a Gallo-Roman cemetery with the tomb of Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris.

 

 Saint Denis is a Christian martyr and saint. In the third century, he was Bishop of Paris. He was martyred in connection with the Decian persecution of Christians, shortly after 250 CE. After his head was chopped off, Denis is said to have picked it up and walked ten kilometres, preaching a sermon the entire way.  He is said to have been beheaded on Monmartre, which is why Sacre Coeur was built there.

Several National Monuments,including Saint Denis Basilica Cathedral, in and around Paris offered special Easter quizzes with a promise of prizes if everything was completed correctly.

Joan of Arc visited here and prayed on some relics before continuing on to Paris

St. Denis is often referred to as the necropolis or France.  The kings or France and their families were buried in the Cathedral.  All but three of the monarchs of France from the 10th century until 1789 have their remains there.  Traditionally, queens were crowned here and kings at Reims.

During the Revolution, Revolutionaries opened the tombs and dumped the bodies into two large pits nearby, dissolving the bodies using quick lime.  Many of the stone coffins and monuments were saved because they were considered art.

Napoleon reopened the Cathedral in 1806, but left the royal bodies in the common pit.  In 1817 the bodies were exhumed, but there was little left and no way to identify who was whom.  The remains were buried in a common grave in the crypt with a list of all of the royalty whose tombs were despoiled.

The tomb of François I, Claude de France and three of their children.  The king and queen are portrayed naked and flayed inside the tomb and praying on top.



 



The tomb of Henri II and Catherine of Medici is inspired by the Italians and uses many different colours of the same material.

The quiz took us down into the crypt where there were many relics and much weirdness.

In the crypt, there was a temporary exhibit all about St. Denis.

King Dagobert, the king of the Franks (reigned 628-637) was buried here in 639.  He refounded the church as a Benedictine monastery.  Dagobert was the first king to be buried here.

When our girls were little one of their favorite songs was Le Bon Roi Dagobert.  The first verse is about how he has his underwear on inside out.

 

 

Many of the queens had dogs at their feet to represent loyalty.

 

The quizzes were very well done and the girls enjoyed learning about the cathedral and about French history.  Lillian and Sylvia were rewarded with stickers and chocolates.