Saint-Denis: a medieval town
Over successive excavations, the Archaeology Unit of Saint-Denis (UASD) has built up a picture of the medieval city that once surrounded the basilica of Saint Denis, chosen by several generations of French kings as their final resting place.
Monumental complex of Saint Denis
This now-invisible town is revealed on the Saint-Denis, a town in the Middle Ages website. For the first time, computer-generated images reconstruct the town centre with its abbey and cloister and surrounding churches, from the beginning of the modern era to the present day. It retraces the history of a town, its workshops, businesses and fair, which revolved around its powerful abbey.
Artefacts: glimpses of daily life
The many finds, which include pots of all shapes and sizes, poulaines, fire strikers, ice-skates and pilgrim badges offer an insight into the everyday lives of the ordinary and extraordinary people of Saint-Denis. Luxurious objects such as the jewels of a queen and Carolingian glasses, and rare artefacts like a byssus silk hat and a boardgame, reveal the prestige of medieval Saint Denis and its links with the rest of Europe. These finds are painstakingly conserved as part of a sophisticated conservation policy.
A multidisciplinary team
This initiative by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication (research and technology mission of the development and international affairs group) and the town of Saint-Denis (UASD), directed by Nicole Meyer Rodrigues and Michaël Wyss, brings together archaeologists, architects, educators, computer-graphics artists, graphic designers, illustrators and developers. It is based on the extraordinary primary material and finds collected since the 1970s by the UASD, and underpinned by a heritage policy developed in response to local urban redevelopment activities and close collaboration between the town and national public services. Specialists and elected officials have worked to bring the past closer to the people who live in Saint Denis today ‒ a town of contrasts, journeys and exchanges.
This website is targeted at a wide range of users, including teachers and students. To make the site as accessible as possible, it is available in an abridged version in sign language and in English.
Please note
Content from the previous website, published in 2005, identical in 2020.