Amy gets churched up

I got my own dose of stained glass and Gothic architecture on Friday afternoon when I trekked out to the suburb of St. Denis to check out the Basilica of St. Denis. I had been curious about this cathedral ever since Aaron and I read about St. Denis' martyrdom and saw the statue of him holding his head in his hands in the middle of a children's playground in Montmartre several weeks ago (see video clip in the April 4 post titled "Montmartre Walk"). The story goes that St. Denis was beheaded by Roman soldiers on Montmartre ("Hill of the Martyrs"), then proceeded to pick up his own head and carry it another several miles to the site where the basilica named for him now stands. I was also curious to see a slice of life outside the city limits of Paris -- the metro line leading to St. Denis is one of the few that extend past the boulevard périphérique that marks the boundary between the city proper and the suburbs.

Basilica of St. Denis



Plaque outside the entrance to the basilica -- I believe it reads: "In this church on Tuesday, September 13, 1429, Joan of Arc, injured before Paris, in homage to St. Denis, offered her weapons"











The basilica's main claim to fame, however, is not St. Denis himself, or even the beautiful architecture and stained glass windows, but rather the fact that its abbey is home to the "royal necropolis of France," the last resting place of most of the kings and queens of France for nearly 1,000 years. Were I more of a royalty buff and/or not such a cheapskate, I would have visited this, as well, but after learning that they charge 7 euros to enter the abbey (plus another 4,50 if you want an audioguide), I decided to content myself with taking pictures of the pictures provided within the church proper!