Saint-Denis; Its Basilica & The Royal Mausoleum
79 effigies of royal personages are present in the Basilica as well as many tombs and other great examples of funerary sculpture. The royal bones are here too in a jumbled-up ossuary in the crypt (all those that could be recovered after the activities of the Revolution had desecrated the church). Some parts of the church date back to the 12 C and earlier and its beautiful external and internal features are the result of restorations and reconstructions by Viollet-le-Duc who also restored Pierrefonds in this region (See out Tips) and famous Carcassone. Throughout its existence, it has been carefully tended by the royalty and its contents are of high quality although it is not as profuse as Westminster Abbey to which it is analogous.
