Basilica of Saint-Denis: The progenitor of Gothic cathedrals, the burial place of French monarchs

A historical tour of the city of Paris should begin with the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Paris was founded during the Roman era, and as the empire declined, Christianity took its place, becoming the symbol of European civilization. Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris, is said to have been martyred by decapitation. He carried his own head from Montmartre to the current site of the Basilica of Saint-Denis, where the original church was established in his name. The earliest church became the traditional burial site for the kings of the Franks, with Clovis I, the first Frankish king to convert to Christianity, buried here. During the French Revolution, the remains were desecrated, and today a plastic plate with a holographic image of the remains is placed in the crypt for people to understand that history. The church was rebuilt on its original foundations in the 12th century and became the family tomb of French monarchs throughout the ages. Political figures who marked important moments in French history are mostly buried here, including Henry II and Catherine de Medici, the couple of Francis I, the couple of Louis XIV, and the family of Louis XVI, who was retrieved by Louis XVIII from the mass graves of Paris and also buried in the underground crypt. The large tomb sculptures, including those of Francis I, feature nude effigies of the kings and queens, embodying the spirit of the Renaissance to the fullest. A rose placed on the coffin lid of Marie Antoinette represents the eternal sympathy of the Parisians for this woman. The heart of her child, Louis XVII, who died in prison, is also preserved in the crypt. Dynastic history is the main thread of a nation's history, which endows the Basilica of Saint-Denis with a profound sense of historical presence. When you recount the lives of those buried in the tombs, you are actually witnessing the written history of a nation. In the 12th century, after a long period of division, the French political scene saw an opportunity to strengthen central authority. Under the pressure of foreign enemies, local lords came together, and royal power had a centralized pretext. Suger, the abbot of Saint-Denis, seized this opportunity, attempting to consolidate royal and ecclesiastical power through the construction of monuments and cultural edifices. As the client, he demanded the construction of a church that would spread holy light, tall and grand, directly sparking an architectural revolution. This is a striking example of social reality influencing art. The Basilica of Saint-Denis became the first church in the world to use stained glass windows extensively and the first to combine ribbed groin vaults with pointed arches to solve the problem of vault support. In other words, Saint-Denis is the progenitor of French Gothic cathedrals, and at that time, the term 'Gothic' had not yet been invented. The stone used in the church has a gray hue, and when the sunlight is just right, it does not feel dark at all. Instead, the colorful light and shadows cast dreamy patches of light on the stone, which are even more striking. This truly fulfills the client's requirement for 'holy light.' Embedded in the architecture is the entire history of the French dynasty, but the building itself is also a development and reflection of French cultural history. The building and people are fused together, becoming a tangible historical experience. When we say that architecture is an epic and that stones can speak, this is probably what we mean.