New visitor itinerary

In 2024, the Cathedral Basilica of Saint-Denis attracted a record 147,718 visitors, a 9% increase on the previous year. This exceptional attendance was largely due to the monument being illuminated during the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

To build on this success and enhance the visitor experience, from 11 April 2025 the Centre des monuments nationaux will be offering a new interactive and educational visitor trail.

This new tour offers an innovative approach, divided into three main themes: the royal necropolis, the architecture of the basilica and its history. Accessible in French, English and Spanish, it includes a series of educational features to guide visitors throughout their visit.

Right outside, an initial media station is set up to provide architectural elements on the façade of the basilica, giving visitors an initial understanding of the monument. In the nave, an animated film retraces the major stages in the construction of the basilica. Multimedia tables have been set up in the royal necropolis to guide visitors through maps, royal genealogies and answers to frequently asked questions. Two additional animated films, one of which is aimed at young audiences, complete the offer. As for the crypt, it has been equipped with new features focusing on the archaeological crypt and the period of the French Revolution. The chevet of the basilica features an animated film that brings to life the stained glass windows in the upper sections and recounts the legend of Saint-Denis.

Digital labels placed in the necropolis provide a deeper understanding of the recumbent figures and tombs, with detailed information on each personage, their era and their place in the history of France. These labels are positioned as close as possible to the tombs to allow direct interaction and easy access to the details.

Finally, the tour ends in a new area dedicated to history, housed in the current reception room. This area features multimedia content on the treasure of Saint-Denis and an animated film on the preparation of the bodies of the deceased. The film is presented in furniture accompanied by shadow theatres, creating an immersive atmosphere. This area also houses a model enhanced by a projection to explain the development of the town and the abbey in the 17th century. A large mural fresco completes the experience, covering a variety of themes including the coronation of queens, pilgrimages and the history of the basilica, with eyelets and flaps to open to reveal hidden iconography.

The new scenography, designed by the Nathalie Crinière agency, incorporates black steel tubular structures that serve both as a support for the mediation and as a distance for the tombs. This sober, elegant aesthetic choice enhances the solemnity of the site, while facilitating interaction with the mediation systems.

In this new tour, a number of features have been specially designed for young visitors. From the first tactile station, located at the entrance to the building, right up to the wall of the interpretation room, children are invited to discover and understand the site through observation, by looking and searching for symbolic elements around them, and by interacting with the mediation devices.

A number of stations accessible to blind and partially sighted visitors, with Braille and tactile drawings in relief, evoke the theme of architecture along the way. In a second phase, French sign language (LSF) facilities will also be available, to complete theoffer for visitors with disabilities.

The renewal of the tour of Saint-Denis Cathedral Basilica is supported by Dassault Histoire et Patrimoine, Caisse des Dépôts, and the Visio Foundation to help visually impaired children and adults.

In September 2025, the tour of the cathedral basilica will be further enhanced with the opening of La Fabrique de la Flèche. Find out more: reconstruction of the tower and north spire of Saint-Denis cathedral basilica