Basilique Royale de Saint-Denis (WordPress Writing 101 Prompt #17)

Saint-Denis – west façade. By Ordifana75 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Today’s prompt didn’t particularly interest me or feel like a good fit for this blog, but the additional challenge was to write in a style different from my usual one, which I liked a lot. I like my writing to flow and include lots of description; I never skimp on the words. Therefore, I decided to write a post in a more direct style, with shorter and even incomplete sentences. I used bullet points instead of nice fluid paragraphs.

Saint-Denis – view from the nave looking toward the apse. By Bordeled (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Basilica of Saint Denis (Basilique Royale de Saint-Denis)

Located in Saint Denis, a suburb of Paris.
Benedictine abbey church
Original church dates from around 475.
Gothic rebuild from 1137-1144.
Church was closely associated with French royalty in their Île-de-France seat of power.
Architecture meant to glorify French monarchy.
Early French kings, including Charlemagne, crowned and buried there.
Later monarchs now rest there as well, including memorials to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
Underground crypt contains royal burials.
Pilgrimage church – shrine to Saint Denis (Saint Dionysius), former Bishop of Paris and patron saint of Paris.
Abbot Suger (1081-1151) was politically connected and in charge of massive rebuild.
Still an active church but no longer an abbey, and opened for visits.

Radiating chapels around the apse, with an ambulatory. By Rita1234 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Earliest example of Gothic architecture in France.
Higher vaults, more open space, less stone than Romanesque churches.
Open plan with ambulatory connecting chapels around the apse using fan vaulting was revolutionary.
Pointed arches and ribbed groin vaults, already used in Romanesque period, combined in a new and better way to make innovations possible.
Bigger and higher stained-glass windows thanks to exterior buttresses.
More window than wall.
Airy, light-filled spaces have spiritual associations; meant to provoke religious feeling.
Predecessor to the soaring vaults and massive windows in later churches like Notre-Dame de Paris, Chartres Cathedral, and Sainte-Chapelle.
Some elements still in their original Romanesque and earlier design, including west façade.
Beautiful sculptural work on interior and exterior.

Stained glass windows in the triforium. By Sailko (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Davies, Penelope J.E. et al. Janson’s History of Art: The Western Tradition. 7^th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2007. 385-391.

Toman, Rolf ed. & Barbara Borngasser. Churches and Cathedrals: 1700 years of sacred architecture. Bath, England: Parragon Books Ltd., 2008. 85.

Wikipedia. “Basilica of St Denis” on Wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_St_Denis. Accessed July 2, 2015.