Discover Saint Denis in Saint-Denis… a walking trail in the footsteps of history. Explore the 1.700m walking trail from Pierre de Montreuil garden to Stade de France.
Discover an amazing walking-trail through history, an invitation to stroll along a unique path full of historical significance between the Basilica of Saint Denis and Stade de France stadium and between the origins of the medieval city and the twenty-first century. This historical route-project was carried out by Jean Kiras, an artist; Luc Fauchois, historian; Nicole Rodrigues and Michaël Wyss, archaeologists at the Archeological Unit of Saint Denis. The ground has preserved numerous soul-stirring traces of Saint Denis, a past rich in history, often crossing the history of France. Direct evidence of archeological excavations conducted since 1973 are proof of this; they are the common thread travelling through space and time. Each of the twenty steel markers reveal their secret to visitors, calling us to halt at each major step in the rapid development of the city. These markers evoke important places, buildings, events, activities and all the men who worked hard to build up the medieval town Saint-Denis.
Cut out of steel, and organized on a human scale, each of the twenty markers fixed all along the route is a unique artistic project. The shapes of the markers symbolically express important highlights of the identity of Saint Denis over the centuries. Through texts engraved into the metal, plans, drawings, reproductions of archeological or symbolical objects representing the history of Saint Denis included in the resin, each marker suggests an era evoking a different story. One side of the marker has a description of the development and organization of the town describing every major step at that time and illustrated by drawings and plans to complement the commentaries. These plans and drawings come from the Historical Atlas of Saint Denis published by French Archaeological Documents (1996).
1. At the origin; a legend; origins in the fifth century;
2. The Necropolis from sixth to the eight century
3. Dagobert and the abbey from the sixth to the eight century
4. The Royalty foundation and cultural center in the eight and ninth century
5. Basilica: symbol and masterpiece
6. Birth of a city
7. Abbey
8. Commercial and social dynamics
9. The city under construction
10. Craftsmen and artists Saint Denis
11. Taverns
12. Commerce and fairs
13. Religious communities
14. Cloth dyeing
15. Franciade
16. An Industrial City
17. Immigration; a working town
18. Saint Denis The Red
19. Transformation
20. Stade de France
