Editing Basilica of Saint-Denis (section)

== History ==
=== Early churches ===
The cathedral is on the site where [[Saint Denis of Paris|Saint Denis]], the first [[bishop of Paris]], is believed to have been buried. According to the "Life of Saint Genevieve", written in about 520, he was sent by Pope [[Clement I]] to evangelise the [[Parisii (Gaul)|Parisii]]. He was arrested and condemned by the Roman authorities. Along with two of his followers, the priest Rusticus and deacon Eleutherus, he was decapitated on the hill of [[Montmartre]] in about 250 AD.  According to the legend, he is said to have carried his head four leagues to the Roman settlement of Catulliacus, the site of the current church, and indicated that it was where he wanted to be buried. A [[martyrium]] or shrine-mausoleum was erected on the site of his grave in about 313 AD, and was enlarged into a basilica with the addition of tombs and monuments under [[Saint Genevieve]]. These including a royal tomb, that of Aregonde, the wife of King [[Clothar I]].<ref name="newadvent.org"/>{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=2}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="270">

File:Dagobert visitant le chantier de la construction de Saint-Denis.jpg|[[Dagobert I]] visiting the construction site of the Abbey of St. Denis (painted 1473)
File:Clovis2 saint denis.jpg|[[Clovis II]] visiting Saint Denis (painted in 15th&nbsp;c.)
</gallery>
[[Dagobert I]], King of the [[Franks]] (reigned 628 to 637), transformed the church into the [[Abbey]] of Saint Denis, a [[Benedictine]] [[monastery]] in 632.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Doublet|first=Dom|title=Histoire de l'abbaye de Saint-Denys en France|year=1625|pages=164–165}}</ref> It soon grew to a community of more than five hundred monks, plus their servants.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|pp=2–3}}

Dagobert also commissioned a new shrine to house the saint's remains, which was created by his chief councillor, [[Saint Eligius|Eligius]], a [[goldsmith]] by training. An early ''[[Hagiography|vita]]'' of Saint Eligius describes the shrine:

<blockquote>:Above all, Eligius fabricated a mausoleum for the holy martyr Denis in the city of Paris with a wonderful marble [[Ciborium (architecture)|ciborium]] over it marvelously decorated with gold and gems. He composed a crest [at the top of a tomb] and a magnificent frontal and surrounded the throne of the altar with golden axes in a circle. He placed golden apples there, round and jeweled. He made a pulpit and a gate of silver and a roof for the throne of the altar on silver axes. He made a covering in the place before the tomb and fabricated an outside altar at the feet of the holy martyr. So much industry did he lavish there, at the king's request, and poured out so much that scarcely a single ornament was left in [[Gaul]], and it is the greatest wonder of all to this very day.<ref>''Vita S. Eligius'', edited by Levison, [http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/basis/eligius.html on-line at Medieval Sourcebook]
</ref></blockquote>

===The Carolingian church===
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File:Saint-Denis (93), basilique, crypte d'Hilduin 1.jpg|Walls of the crypt built by the Abbot [[Hilduin of Saint-Denis|Hilduin]] (9th century)
File:Underground crypt @ Basilique de Saint-Denis @ Saint-Denis (30624057081).jpg|Capital of a column in the Carolingian crypt
File:Oldest tombs @ Underground crypt @ Basilique de Saint-Denis @ Saint-Denis (30624049031).jpg|Earliest sarcophagi in the crypt
</gallery>
During his second coronation at Saint-Denis, King [[Pepin the Short]] made a vow to rebuild the old abbey.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=3}} The first church mentioned in the chronicles was begun in 754 and completed under [[Charlemagne]], who was present at its consecration in 775. By 832 the Abbey had been granted a remunerative whaling concession on the [[Cotentin Peninsula]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=DeSmet|first1=W.M.A.|title=Mammals in the Seas: General papers and large cetaceans. Whaling During the Middle Ages.|date=1981|publisher=Food & Agriculture Org. |isbn=978-9251005132|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BKaUpfo2XCUC&q=An+early+17th+century+record+of+the+California+gray+whale+in+Icelandic+waters}}</ref>

According to one of the Abbey's many [[Myth of origins|foundation myths]] a leper, who was sleeping in the nearly completed church the night before its planned consecration, witnessed a blaze of light from which Christ, accompanied by St Denis and a host of angels, emerged to conduct the consecration ceremony himself. Before leaving, Christ healed the leper, tearing off his diseased skin to reveal a perfect complexion underneath. A mis-shapen patch on a marble column was said to be the leper's former skin, which stuck there when Christ discarded it. Having been consecrated by Christ, the fabric of the building was itself regarded as sacred.<ref>Lindy Grant, ''Abbot Suger of St.Denis: Church and State in Early Twelfth century France'', Longman, 1998</ref>

Most of what is now known about the Carolingian church at St Denis resulted from a lengthy series of excavations begun under the American art historian [[Sumner McKnight Crosby]] in 1937.<ref>Sumner McKnight Crosby, ''The Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis from Its Beginnings to the Death of Suger, 475–1151'', Yale University Press, 1987</ref> The structure altogether was about eighty meters long, with an imposing [[Westwork|facade]], a nave divided into three sections by two rows of marble columns, a transept, and [[apse]] and at the east end. During important religious celebrations, the interior of the church was lit with 1250 lamps.{{sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=4}} Beneath the apse, in imitation of St. Peter's in Rome, a crypt was constructed, with a Confession, or martyr's chapel, in the center. Inside this was a platform on which the sarcophagus of Denis was displayed, with those of his companions Rusticus and Eleutherus on either side. Around the platform was a corridor where pilgrims could circulate, and bays with windows. Traces of painted decoration of this original crypt can be seen in some of the bays.{{sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=4}}

The crypt was not large enough for the growing number of pilgrims who came, so in about 832 the abbot Hilduin built a second crypt, to the west of the first, and a small new chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary was constructed next to the apse. The new crypt was extensively rebuilt under Suger in the 12th century.{{sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=4}}

=== Suger and the Early Gothic Church (12th century) ===
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File:Basilique Saint-Denis - Verrière de l'Arbre de Jessé - Suger.JPG|[[Suger|Abbot Suger]] depicted in the [[Tree of Jesse]] window (19th c.)
File:Louis le Gros visiting St Denis.jpg|[[Louis VI of France]] visiting St. Denis (14th century illustration)
File:Battle of Poitiers.jpg|The [[Oriflamme]] (top left), or battle flag of French kings, was kept at Saint Denis.
File:Philippe II et Oriflamme.jpg|King [[Philip II of France]] receives the [[Oriflamme]] from the bishop before going to war (13th c., 1841 painting)
</gallery>
[[Abbot Suger]] (c. 1081 – 1151), the patron of the rebuilding of the Abbey church, had begun his career in the church at the age of ten, and rose to become the Abbot in 1122. He was a school companion and then confidant and minister of [[Louis VI of France|Louis VI]] and then of his son [[Louis VII]], and was a regent of Louis VII when the King was absent on the Crusades.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=4}}  He was an accomplished fund-raiser, acquiring treasures for the cathedral and collecting an enormous sum for its rebuilding. In about 1135 he began reconstructing and enlarging the abbey.  In his famous account of the work undertaken during his administration, Suger explained his decision to rebuild the church, due to the decrepit state of the old structure and its inability to cope with the crowds of pilgrims visiting the shrine of St Denis.

In the 12th century, thanks largely to Suger, the Basilica became a principal sanctuary of French Royalty, rivalling [[Reims Cathedral]], where the kings were crowned. The Abbey also kept the regalia of the coronation, including the robes, crowns and sceptre.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=11}} Beginning in 1124, and until the mid-15th century, the kings departed for war carrying the [[oriflamme]], or battle flag, of St. Denis, to give the King the protection of the Saint. It was taken to the Abbey only when France was in danger. The flag was retired in 1488, when the Parisians opened the gates of Paris to invading English and Burgundian armies.

==== First Phase: the west front (1135–1140) ====
Suger began his rebuilding project at the western end of St Denis, demolishing the old Carolingian facade with its single, centrally located door. He extended the old nave westwards by an additional four bays and added a massive western [[Narthex]], incorporating a new façade and three chapels on the first floor level.

In the new design, massive vertical buttresses separated the three doorways and horizontal string-courses and window arcades clearly marked out the divisions. This clear delineation of parts was to influence subsequent west façade designs as a common theme in the development of Gothic architecture and a marked departure from the Romanesque. The portals themselves were sealed by gilded bronze doors, ornamented with scenes from Christ's Passion. They clearly recorded Suger's patronage with the following inscription:

On the lintel below the great tympanum showing the Last Judgement, beneath a carved figure of the kneeling Abbot, was inscribed the more modest plea;
<blockquote>Receive, stern Judge, the prayers of your Suger, Let me be mercifully numbered among your sheep.</blockquote>

====Second Phase: the new choir, (1140–1144)====
[[File:A Vault in Ambulatory at Saint-Denis.png|thumb|Suger's Gothic Ambulatory ]]
Suger's western extension was completed in 1140 and the three new chapels in the narthex were consecrated on 9 June of that year, but the Romanesque nave between was yet unchanged. He wrote about the new narthex at the west end and proposed chapels at the east: "Once the new rear part is joined to the part in front, the church shines with its middle part brightened. For bright is that which is brightly coupled with the bright, and bright is the noble edifice which is pervaded by the new light."{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=127}}

Suger's great innovation in the new choir was the replacement of the heavy dividing walls in the apse and ambulatory with slender columns, so that the interior of that part of the church was filled with light. He described "A circular string of chapels, by virtue of which the whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty."{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=127}}
One of these chapels was dedicated to Saint [[Osmanna]], and held her relics.{{sfn|O'Hanlon|1873|p=241}}

Suger's masons drew on elements which evolved or had been introduced to Romanesque architecture: the [[rib vault]] with pointed arches, and exterior buttresses which made it possible to have larger windows and to eliminate interior walls.  It was the first time that these features had all been drawn together; and the new style evolved radically from the previous Romanesque architecture by the lightness of the structure and the unusually large size of the stained glass windows.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|pp=126–127}}

The new architecture was full of symbolism. The twelve columns in the choir represented the twelve Apostles, and the light represented the Holy Spirit.
Like many French clerics in the 12th century AD, he was a follower of [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]], a 6th century mystic who equated the slightest reflection or glint with divine light. Suger's own words were carved in the nave: "For bright is that which is brightly coupled with the bright/and bright is the noble edifice which is pervaded by the new light."<ref>Bruce Watson, Light: A Radiant History from Creation to the Quantum Age. Bloomsbury, 2016, p 52.</ref> Following Suger's example, large stained glass windows filling the interior with mystical light became a prominent feature of Gothic architecture.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=127}}

Two different architects, or master masons, were involved in the 12th century rebuilding.<ref>Lindy Grant, ''Abbot Suger of St. Denis: Church and State in Early Twelfth Century France'', Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1998</ref> Both remain anonymous but their work can be distinguished on stylistic grounds. The first, who was responsible for the initial work at the western end, favoured conventional Romanesque capitals and moulding profiles with rich and individualised detailing. His successor, who completed the western facade and upper storeys of the [[narthex]], before going on to build the new choir, displayed a more restrained approach to decorative effects, relying on a simple repertoire of motifs, which may have proved more suitable for the lighter Gothic style that he helped to create.<ref>Stephen Gardner, "Two Campaigns in Suger's Western Block at Saint-Denis", ''Art Bulletin'', Vol.44, part 4, 1984, pp. 574–87</ref>

The Portal of Valois was the last of the Gothic structures planned by Suger. It was designed for the original building, but was not yet begun when Suger died in 1151. In the 13th century it was moved to the end of the new transept on the north side of the church.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|pp=10–11}} The sculpture of the portal includes six standing figures in the embracements and thirty figures in the voussures, or arches, over the doorway, which probably represent the Kings of the Old Testament. The scene in the Tympanum over the doorway depicts the martyrdom of Saint Denis. In their realism and finesse, they were a landmark in Gothic sculpture.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=10}}

The new structure was finished and dedicated on 11 June 1144, in the presence of the King.<ref>H. Honour and J. Fleming, ''The Visual Arts: A History''. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. {{ISBN|0131935070}}</ref> The Abbey of St Denis thus became the prototype for further building in the royal domain of northern France. Through the rule of the [[House of Plantagenet|Angevin dynasty]], the style was introduced to England and spread throughout France, the [[Low Countries]], Germany, Spain, northern Italy and [[Sicily]].<ref name=gothicplantagenet>"L'art Gothique", section: "L'architecture Gothique en Angleterre" by Ute Engel: L'Angleterre fut l'une des premieres régions à adopter, dans la deuxième moitié du XIIeme siècle, la nouvelle architecture gothique née en France. Les relations historiques entre les deux pays jouèrent un rôle prépondérant: en 1154, Henri II (1154–1189), de la dynastie Française des Plantagenêt, accéda au thrône d'Angleterre." (''England was one of the first regions to adopt, during the first half of the 12th century, the new Gothic architecture born in France. Historic relationships between the two countries played a determining role: in 1154, Henry II (1154–1189), of the French Plantagenet dynasty, ascended to the throne of England'').</ref><ref name=JH1>John Harvey, ''The Gothic World''</ref>

=== Reconstruction of the Nave (13th century) ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Basilica di saint Denis vetrata 01.JPG|The glazed [[triforium]] (center level) and upper [[clerestory]], where windows fill almost the entire wall, a prominent feature of [[Rayonnant]] Gothic. (present windows from 19th c.)
File:Basilica of Saint Denis North Transept Rose Window, Paris, France - Diliff.jpg|Rayonnant rose window in the north transept
</gallery>
Suger died in 1151 with the Gothic reconstruction incomplete. In 1231, Abbot Odo Clement began work on the rebuilding of the Carolingian nave, which remained sandwiched incongruously between Suger's Gothic works to the east and west.  Both the nave and the upper parts of Suger's choir were replaced in the [[Rayonnant]] Gothic style. From the start it appears that Abbot Odo, with the approval of the Regent [[Blanche of Castile]] and her son, the young [[King Louis IX]], planned for the new nave and its large crossing to have a much clearer focus as the French 'royal necropolis', or burial place. That plan was fulfilled in 1264 under Abbot [[Matthew of Vendôme (abbot)|Matthew of Vendôme]] when the bones of 16 former kings and queens were relocated to new tombs arranged around the crossing, eight Carolingian monarchs to the south and eight Capetians to the north.<ref>Georgia Sommers Wright, "A Royal Tomb Program in the Reign of St Louis", in ''The Art Bulletin'', Vol. 56, No. 2 (Jun 1974) pp. 224–243</ref> These tombs, featuring lifelike carved recumbent [[Effigy|effigies]] or ''gisants'' lying on raised bases, were badly damaged during the French revolution though all but two were subsequently restored by Viollet le Duc in 1860.
[[File:A Nave at Saint-Denis 3.png|left|thumb|13th century nave]]
The dark Romanesque nave, with its thick walls and small window-openings, was rebuilt using the very latest techniques, in what is now known as [[French Gothic architecture|Rayonnant Gothic]]. This new style, which differed from Suger's earlier works as much as they had differed from their Romanesque precursors, reduced the wall area to an absolute minimum. Solid masonry was replaced with vast window openings filled with brilliant stained glass (all destroyed in the Revolution) and interrupted only by the most slender of bar [[tracery]]—not only in the clerestory but also, perhaps for the first time, in the normally dark [[triforium]] level. The upper facades of the two much-enlarged transepts were filled with two spectacular 12m-wide [[rose window]]s.<ref>Christopher Wilson, ''The Gothic Cathedral: The Architecture of the Great Church 1130–1530'', Thames & Hudson, 1992</ref> As with Suger's earlier rebuilding work, the identity of the architect or master mason remains unknown. Although often attributed to [[Pierre de Montreuil]], the only evidence for his involvement is an unrelated document of 1247 which refers to him as 'a mason from Saint-Denis'.<ref>Caroline Bruzelius, ''The Thirteenth century Church at St-Denis'', New Haven, 1985</ref>

===15th–17th century===
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File:La ville et mémorable abaie de Sainct Denis - Claude Chastillon.jpg|The cathedral in 1655 by [[Claude Chastillon]]
File:Nicolas Baullery Abjuration Henri IV musée d'art et d'histoire de meudon.jpg|[[Henry IV of France]] renounces Protestantism in 1593 at Saint-Denis by Nicolas Baullery
</gallery>

During the following centuries, the cathedral was pillaged twice; once during the [[Hundred Years War]] (1337–1453) and again during the [[Wars of Religion]] (1562–1598). Damage was largely limited to broken tombs and precious objects stolen from the altars and treasury.  Many modifications were made under [[Marie de' Medici]] and later royal families. These included the construction of chapel adjoining the north transept to serve as a tomb for the monarchs of the [[House of Valois|Valois Dynasty]] (later demolished). A plan of {{circa|1700}} by Félibien shows the [[Valois Chapel]], a large mortuary chapel in the form of a domed colonnaded "[[Rotunda (architecture)|rotunda]]", adjoining the north transept of the basilica and containing the tomb of the [[House of Valois|Valois]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091202050215/http://vrcoll.fa.pitt.edu/medart/image/France/St-denis/plans/sdenmap.html Images of Medieval Art and Architecture – Félibien], archived on 2 December 2009.</ref> and the display of the skeleton of a baleine whale in the nave in 1771. Greater harm was done with the removal of the early Gothic column-statues which Suger had used to decorate the west front. (They were replaced with replicas in the 19th century).{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|pp=16–17}} In 1700, reconstruction began of the monastic buildings adjacent to the church. This was not completed until the mid-18th century. Into these buildings Napoleon installed a school for the daughters of members of the French [[Legion of Honour]], which still is in operation.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998}}

=== The French Revolution and Napoleon ===
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File:Friedrich Staffnick - Abbildung der Kirche St Denis in Frankreich, (...) .png|The looting of the church in 1793, by Friedrich Staffnick
File:HubertRobertViolationDesCaveauxASaintDenis.JPG|The violation of the royal tombs in 1793 depicted by [[Hubert Robert]]
</gallery>
Due to its connections to the French monarchy and proximity to Paris, the abbey of Saint-Denis was a prime target of revolutionary vandalism. On Friday, 14 September 1792, the monks celebrated their last services in the abbey church; the monastery was dissolved the next day. The church was used to store grain and flour.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=18}} In 1793, the [[National Convention]], the revolutionary government, ordered the violation of the sepulchres and the destruction of the royal tombs, but agreed to create a commission to select those monuments which were of historical interest for preservation.  In 1798, these were transferred to the chapel of the Petit-Augustins, which later became the [[Musée des Monuments français (1795–1816)|Museum of French Monuments]].{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=32}}

Most of the medieval monastic buildings were demolished in 1792. Although the church itself was left standing, it was profaned, its treasury confiscated and its reliquaries and liturgical furniture melted down for their metallic value. Some objects, including a chalice and aquamanile donated to the abbey in Suger's time, were successfully hidden and survive to this day. The jamb figures of the façade representing [[Old Testament]] royalty, mistakenly identified as images of royal French kings and queens, were removed from the portals and the tympana sculpture defaced.

In 1794, the government decided to remove the lead tiles from the roof, to melt them down to make bullets. This left the interior of the church badly exposed to the weather.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=18}}

=== 19th century – reconstruction and renovation ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="350px">

File:Saint Denis Félix Benoist 1844 1845.jpg|The left tower, completed, damaged and removed in the 1840s
File:Saint-Denis (basilique) Viollet-le-Duc (projet).jpg|The two-tower plan of [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]], never built
</gallery>
The church was reconsecrated by Napoléon in 1806, and he designated it as the future site for his own tomb and those of his intended dynasty.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=32}} He also ordered the construction of three chapels to honour the last French kings, created a chapel under the authority of his uncle, Cardinal Fesch, which was decorated with richly-carved choir stalls and marquetry from the [[Château de Gaillon]]. (See "Choir Stalls" section below).{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=18}}

After Napoleon's downfall, the ashes of the previous king, [[Louis XVI]], were ceremoniously moved from the cemetery of the [[La Madeleine, Paris|Madeleine]] to Saint-Denis. The last king to be entombed in Saint-Denis was [[Louis XVIII]] in 1824.

In 1813 [[François Debret]] was named the chief architect of the cathedral; he proceeded, over thirty years, to repair the Revolutionary damage. He was later best known for his design of the [[Salle Le Peletier]], the primary opera house of Paris before the [[Opéra Garnier]] in 1873. He replaced the upper stained glass windows in the nave with depictions of the historic kings of France, and added new windows to the transept depicting the renovation, and the July 1837 visit to the Cathedral of King Louis Philippe. On 9 June, the spire of the tower was struck by lightning and destroyed.  Debret rapidly put into place a new spire, but he did not fully understand the principles of Gothic architecture. He made errors in his plans for the new structure, which resulted in the spire and tower collapsing under their own weight in 1845.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=22}}<ref name="L'affaire">{{cite web |title=L'affaire de la tour nord : La querelle des anciens et des modernes |url=https://www.tourisme93.com/basilique/l-affaire-de-la-tour-nord.html |website=Basilique Cathédrale de Saint-Denis |publisher=Seine-Saint-Denis Tourisme |access-date=26 September 2018 |language=fr}}</ref>

Debret resigned and was replaced by [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]], who had the support of [[Prosper Mérimée]], the French author who led campaign for the restoration of ruined Gothic architecture in France. Viollet-le-Duc continued working on the Abbey until his death in 1879, and replaced many of the creations conceived by Debret. Viollet-le-Duc focused on the tombs, rearranging and transforming portions of the interior into a vast museum of French sculpture. In the 1860s Emperor [[Napoleon III]] asked Viollet-le-Duc to construct an imperial section in the crypt for him and his dynasty, but he was deposed and went into exile before it was begun.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=32}}{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=18}}

===20th and 21st centuries===
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File:Paris, France. BASILICA SAINT-DENIS. (PA00079952)(Detail).jpg|West portals before cleaning (2011)
File:Basilique Saint-Denis Première pierre reconstruction flèche.jpg|First stone of the reconstruction of the spire (2025)
</gallery>
In 1895, when the chapter created by Napoleon was dissolved, the church lost its cathedral rank and reverted to being a parish church. It did not become a cathedral again until 1966, with the creation of the new diocese of Saint-Denis. The formal title is now the "Baslilique-cathédrale de Saint-Denis".{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|pp=22–23}}

In December 2016, 170 years after the north tower's dismantlement and following several false starts, the [[Ministry of Culture (France)|Ministry of Culture]] again proposed its reconstruction after concluding it was technically feasible—albeit without public funding.<ref name="parisien_tour_nord">{{cite news |last1=Bourdon |first1=Gwenaël |title=Basilique Saint-Denis : le chantier de la flèche freiné dans son élan |url=http://www.leparisien.fr/saint-denis-93200/basilique-saint-denis-le-chantier-de-la-fleche-freine-dans-son-elan-30-01-2017-6640494.php |access-date=26 September 2018 |work=[[Le Parisien]] |date=30 January 2017 |language=fr}}</ref> An association, ''Suivez la flèche'' ("Follow the Spire"), chaired by [[Patrick Braouezec]], has since been established to support the reconstruction, with the aim of raising the necessary funds by opening the reconstruction works to the general public, along the model of the [[Guédelon Castle]]. In March 2018, the culture ministry signed an accord with the association, officially launching the reconstruction project, with works expected to commence in May 2020.<ref name="ParisDigest">{{Cite web |url= https://www.parisdigest.com/paris-news/saint-denis-spire-reconstruction.htm|title= Saint Denis Cathedral spire| year=2019 |publisher=Paris Digest |access-date=30 April 2019}}</ref><ref name="Accorde">{{cite web |title=Accord définitif de l'Etat : la flèche de la Basilique sera remontée |url=https://www.tourisme93.com/basilique/accord-definitif-la-fleche-de-la-basilique-sera-remontee.html |website=Basilique Cathédrale de Saint-Denis |publisher=Seine-Saint-Denis Tourisme |access-date=26 September 2018 |language=fr}}</ref> A year later, French scholars were still divided on the €25 million proposal to reconstruct the spire.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sage |first=Adam |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/french-academics-at-odds-over-25m-plans-to-rebuild-spire-of-basilica-of-saint-denis-5c5dcw7vs |title=French academics at odds over €25m plans to rebuild spire of Basilica of Saint-Denis |work=[[The Times]] |date=16 November 2021 }}</ref> In 2023, hundreds of anonymous graves dating from the 5th to the 14th century were discovered in the Basilica.<ref>{{cite web |last=Morin |first=Hervé |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/science/article/2023/04/09/basilica-of-saint-denis-newly-discovered-graves-bring-back-the-past_6022294_10.html |title=Basilica of Saint-Denis: Newly discovered graves bring back the past |publisher=Le Monde |date=9 April 2023 }}</ref> In the same year, the Basilica's stained glass windows which have been the central focus of a project spanning 25 years, entered the final stage of restoration with a total cost exceeding 2 million euros.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230203-light-returns-to-the-stained-glass-of-the-saint-denis-basilica |title=Light returns to the stained glass of the Saint-Denis Basilica |publisher=France 24 |date=3 February 2023 }}</ref> The spire reconstruction project commenced after the site's inauguration on 14 March 2025, which was attended by Minister of Culture [[Rachida Dati]], and is expected to continue for five years.<ref>{{cite web |last=Goth |first=Dorine |url=https://actu.fr/ile-de-france/saint-denis_93066/on-tourne-une-page-de-180-ans-saint-denis-lance-le-chantier-de-reconstruction-de-la-fleche-de-sa-basilique_62375013.html |title="On tourne une page de 180 ans" : Saint-Denis lance le chantier de reconstruction de la flèche de sa basilique |publisher=actu.fr |language=fr |date=14 March 2025 }}</ref>