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Home > The town and the abbey > Le site des origines > Problèmatique de restitution 3D
Chronological information : From the third to the early fifth century
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Saint-Denis in picturesSaint Denis -----------------------------------
Trades in the first millennium
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The tomb of Saint Denis
A pillar from the chancel
A grave from
the exterior necropolis
The antefixes
Long-distance trade
Text of the page
Restitution hypothétique de la première église
édifiée sur la tombe de Denis.
© Ministère de la culture
M. Wyss, A.-B. Pimpaud, M.-O. Agnes.
Restitution hypothétique des bâtiments mis au jour au nord de la basilique.
© Ministère de la culture / M. Wyss, A.-B. Pimpaud, M.-O. Agnes.
© Ministère de la culture / M. Wyss, A.-B. Pimpaud, M.-O. Agnes.
A word about our model of how the monumental complex developed
Building a three-dimensional view of how Saint-Denis's monuments developed between Late Antiquity and the eighteenth century was a very tricky undertaking. It was based on a detailed analysis of both archaeological and architectural data, carried out over several years and in collaboration with various experts, including archaeologists, architectural historians, architects, geologists, and so on. For early periods, for which structures can only be identified by their foundations, which are often incomplete, a large part can be only hypothesis. Research is ongoing, and our goal here is not to offer a definitive scientific report, but rather to introduce the general public to the organization of this unique complex, and to help them to understand its development.
Building a three-dimensional view of how Saint-Denis's monuments developed between Late Antiquity and the eighteenth century was a very tricky undertaking. It was based on a detailed analysis of both archaeological and architectural data, carried out over several years and in collaboration with various experts, including archaeologists, architectural historians, architects, geologists, and so on. For early periods, for which structures can only be identified by their foundations, which are often incomplete, a large part can be only hypothesis. Research is ongoing, and our goal here is not to offer a definitive scientific report, but rather to introduce the general public to the organization of this unique complex, and to help them to understand its development.
Excavations carried out north of the basilica have revealed the presence of at least three stone buildings from Late Antiquity. The very fragmentary remains of these structures-which appeared at the edge of the excavated zone-mean that we cannot be certain about their appearance. All three constructions share the same orientation, and they appear to be part of the same establishment. They seem to have been of modest size. The corners of one building, which is rectangular, are reinforced by buttresses. Another, which is reconstructed here with a square floor plan, has an interior floor which is below ground level. It must have been splendidly decorated, as testified to by the fragments of painted wall plaster and stucco found in the vicinity.
Restitution hypothétique de la première église
édifiée sur la tombe de Denis.
© Ministère de la culture
M. Wyss, A.-B. Pimpaud, M.-O. Agnes.
Excavating beneath the basilica in 1958, Edouard Salin, Édouard Salin Édouard Salin (1889 - 1970)
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archaeologist, from a family of master blacksmiths from Lorraine. A connoisseur of metallurgic techniques, he specialized in the funerary archaeology of the High Middle Ages. From 1952 to 1957, he directed the archaeological exploration of the necropolis of Saint-Denis's basilica. , Michel Fleury Michel Fleury
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archivist-paleographer, vice president of Paris's Commission du Vieux-Paris, and Director of Historic Antiquities in Ile-de-France from 1965 to 1982. He directed the excavation of the square in front of Notre-Dame, the Cour Carrée at the Louvre and the necropolis of the Saint-Denis basilica. and Jules Formigé Jules Formigé
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Senior architect for France's Monuments Historiques; he restored Roman-era monuments in Provence (Orange, Vaison-la-Romaine, and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence) and in 1942 he was named architect of Saint-Denis's basilica. uncovered the solidly-constructed masonry of the first church. This construction was built along an axis-determined by the grave of Denis-that was noticeably different from other nearby buildings. The far eastern end had disappeared. Our reconstruction is based on the proposal by the archaeologist Sumner McKnight Crosby Sumner McKnight Crosby
(1909 - 1982)
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Historian of medieval art and architecture from Yale University, a student of Marcel Aubert and Henri Focillon. Beginning in 1938, he led archaeological excavations in the Saint-Denis basilica. according to which the church ended in a straight wall whose interior face ran along the foot of the martyr's grave. The large construction, whose interior measured nine meters wide by nearly twenty meters long, had no internal division. The single nave and the choir, which had the same width, were probably covered over by a simple ceiling protected by a pitched roof.
End of the text of the page
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archaeologist, from a family of master blacksmiths from Lorraine. A connoisseur of metallurgic techniques, he specialized in the funerary archaeology of the High Middle Ages. From 1952 to 1957, he directed the archaeological exploration of the necropolis of Saint-Denis's basilica. , Michel Fleury Michel Fleury
------------------------------------------------------
archivist-paleographer, vice president of Paris's Commission du Vieux-Paris, and Director of Historic Antiquities in Ile-de-France from 1965 to 1982. He directed the excavation of the square in front of Notre-Dame, the Cour Carrée at the Louvre and the necropolis of the Saint-Denis basilica. and Jules Formigé Jules Formigé
------------------------------------------------------
Senior architect for France's Monuments Historiques; he restored Roman-era monuments in Provence (Orange, Vaison-la-Romaine, and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence) and in 1942 he was named architect of Saint-Denis's basilica. uncovered the solidly-constructed masonry of the first church. This construction was built along an axis-determined by the grave of Denis-that was noticeably different from other nearby buildings. The far eastern end had disappeared. Our reconstruction is based on the proposal by the archaeologist Sumner McKnight Crosby Sumner McKnight Crosby
(1909 - 1982)
------------------------------------------------------
Historian of medieval art and architecture from Yale University, a student of Marcel Aubert and Henri Focillon. Beginning in 1938, he led archaeological excavations in the Saint-Denis basilica. according to which the church ended in a straight wall whose interior face ran along the foot of the martyr's grave. The large construction, whose interior measured nine meters wide by nearly twenty meters long, had no internal division. The single nave and the choir, which had the same width, were probably covered over by a simple ceiling protected by a pitched roof.
End of the text of the page
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