Holy Goth!

Yesterday I took the long trip on metro 13 to to the northern outskirts of Paris to see this structure that was recommended by a blog I have been following while here: Eye Prefer Paris. The blog recommends unusual walks and "must see" places around the city. Although not art related I will be heading to a "bird market" this Sunday recommended by this blog. Apparently it's like a fruit and vegetable market but with birds??

This wasn't the first time I had heard the name of this basilica; St. Denis- it's history starts in the town of Montmartre, where I am currently living. Saint Denis was the original patron saint of Paris, the first Bishop. According to legend he was beheaded in the streets of Montmartre, which explains it's name: martyr's hill. Even more bizarre, the legend claims that after his beheading he picked up his head and walked away, shouting and preaching until he passed out from blood loss at the site of the basilica, some five miles away. Pretty goth if you ask me.

Gothic architecture is not usually my thing, but it was hard not to be motivated by this structure, so I decided to include it in the blog. After you take in its outdoor beauty and enter through these large heavy doors, you find yourself in it's aisles, facing the altar. This image below actually shows a view from it's nave, turned around towards the entrance while I admired this massive pipe organ. Two doors in the front of the church give entrance under it's arcades seen here on the sides.

The architecture is said to be the first Gothic basilica, highlighting the change from Romanesque to Gothic. Before it was called "Gothic", it was apparently known as "French Style."

These columns are on the basilica's sides.

Facing the altar (above). I was really mesmerized by the criss-crossing going on here.

It was pretty hard to capture the the light coming through, but the purple, pink, yellow and blue glass windows really created quite a spectacle.

You really didn't have to be a believer to enjoy this view. This grand window was to the left of the altar and perhaps the most impressive of all. I have seen other churches in Paris thus far, Madelaine, Notre Dame, Pantheon, Sacre Couer etc. But this one had a different feel to it. 

Check out the goblets of light casted on the corner where the walls meet below. These were consistent throughout this grand structure.

Looking up at the capitals of the columns.

Whats even more bizarre about this church is that it has been the burial site of ALL the kings of France and their families since the 7th century. 

Their bodies are no longer underneath these effigies; apparently during the French Revolution workers were ordered to remove the cadavers from their crypts and thrown into a mass grave out back. 

There was no-one in here and it kept feeling like I wasn't supposed to be there. It was quite a change from the crowds at Notre Dame, the Pantheon as well as the Sacre Coeur. By far the most beautiful and unique in my opinion.