Saint-Denis Revealed: History, Secrets and Changes

Saint-Denis has raced through 2,000 years of history in a whirlwind of heads: from the saint who walked carrying his own, to the headless bodies of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette brought back to the Basilica, and finally to the crowned heads of Olympic medalists in 2024.

• How did this cradle of Gothic art, once shaped by the rhythm of its abbey and five monasteries, become a stronghold of the Communist Party?
• How did Napoleon, unknowingly, trigger the city’s industrial revolution?
• And what unexpected link connects the goldsmith masterpieces of Christofle, Saint-Denis, and New Caledonia?

The answers await as we wander through the streets together, uncovering the city’s hidden heritage, including the only privately owned listed historic building in the Department.

Starting from Porte de Paris metro station, just steps from the Stade de France, we will pass the former Carmelites’ Monastery, now the Museum of Art and History, the House of the Crossbowmen, and the prestigious Legion of Honour Boarding School, before concluding in front of the iconic façade of the Saint-Denis Basilica, the final resting place of the kings and queens of France.

A walk full of surprises, stories and anecdotes, revealing how Saint-Denis continues to reinvent itself through every era.

Discover your private guide Tristan Bayle.