Découverte de la basilique, nécropole des rois de France, lieu culturel national majeur. Premier chef-d'oeuvre monumental de l'art gothique, conçue au XIIe siècle par l'abbé Suger et achevée au XIIIe siècle, la basilique Saint-Denis a subi les vicissitudes de l'histoire. Les restaurations menées par Viollet-le-Duc au XIXe siècle lui ont rendu une partie de sa splendeur passée. ©Electre 2026

Quatrième de couverture

The first monumental masterpiece of Gothic art, the present Basilica of Saint-Denis was designed by Abbot Suger in the 12th century and completed during the time of Saint Louis in the 13th century. The basilica has been given many facelifts and has suffered the tribulations of history as the cynosure of the French monarchy. The renovation programmes led by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century restored to it some of its past splendour. As the necropolis of the kings of France, the basilica houses a collection of 12th-to 16th-century recumbent statues and tombs that is the only one of its kind in Europe, as well as stained glass from the 12th and 19th centuries.

The Basilica of Saint-Denis is at once a parish church, Episcopal headquarters, and major national cultural site.

The « Itinéraires » series, designed as a guide for cultural tourism, invites the visitor to discover the highways and byways of France's national heritage.