Cathedral St Denis, Paris
Evening sun through stained glass
The crypt full of medieval kings etc
St Denis lifting his beheaded head
CATHEDRAL OF ST DENIS
Cathedral of St Denis in the north of Paris has been embedded in my plan for 2 months. There is an organ recital here on Sun 4th Oct, plus it’s a very interesting Cathedral serving as the primary royal necropolis of France. Now St Denis was sent from Rome by the Pope in 250AD to convert Gaul and he settled on the Ile de Cite (when Notre Dame now stands) but angered the local pagan priests arrested, tortured and beheaded him in Montmartre.
According to legend, Denis’s body then rose up, picked up his head and walked north of Paris before collapsing on the current site of this cathedral. Quite a legend! However, he is the celebrated early patron saint of France.
It holds the tombs and remains of 40 French kings, 30 queens, and more than 60 princes, princesses, and royal servants spanning from the 7th through the 19th centuries. It’s huge in dimensions and extraordinary in its crypt and recumbent marble figures. Louis 16th and Marie Antoinette are here, as are the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties including Dagobert - the7th century first king.
It’s all quite overwhelming and I’m glad to sit down quietly in the nave for the wondrous recital played by the Dijon Cathedral organist who gives us full volume bass pipes to enjoy.
Full of recumbent figures
Louis 16th & Marie Antoinette
LEAVING PARIS
There is one last treat for me the morning I am due to leave Paris. I walk out to buy a map of France (because I can’t travel without knowing where I am and where I’m going on paper!). Just as I’m returning to my apartment in Rue Severin, I feel drawn to spend a few moments in gratitude in Sainte-Severin, a 13th century Gothic Cathedral beside my apartment. It was built on a 6th century hermit’s oratory which became a Merovingian Sanctuary. (I have already discovered that the area of Notre Dame in the Seine was the first place ever inhabited in Paris by the Parisii tribe in 250 BC.)
I step inside St Severin and the organist is practicing! It’s full-on Bach and other 18th century wonders - another unexpected miracle - and just as I am about to leave 30 mins later the organist comes down from his heights and I thank him. Please stay he suggests I’m preparing a concert for later - but I have a train to catch! I’m off to Bourges.