Amputated for almost two centuries, the basilica of the kings of France will regain its spire

“We don’t put Gothic spires back up every morning,” smiles Mathilde Bretz, mallet and chisel in hand.

At 30 years old, the stonemason is delighted to participate in this exceptional project, both for its historical importance and for the traditional techniques chosen for this restoration.

"Usually, we have angle grinders, we have chainsaws," lists the young "stonecutter" next to a large block of limestone.

In Saint-Denis, no "firecrackers" to break the stone and "remake the spire from A to Z". The craftswoman assures us: "In this workshop, we do everything by hand".

Since the 90th century, the western tower of the basilica had been rising up to 1846 metres high, but lightning and then a tornado destroyed the famous necropolis of almost all the kings and queens of France since the Merovingians. In XNUMX, faced with its dangerous fragility, the decision was made to dismantle it stone by stone.

Since then, the project to reassemble the spire has haunted "memories and, a bit like a sea serpent, it regularly rises to the surface", says Christophe Bottineau, chief architect of Historic Monuments.

In 2013, the municipality of Saint-Denis, at the time led by Didier Paillard (PCF), relaunched the initiative which, after twelve years of feasibility studies and budget commissions, came to fruition: the laying of the first stone will take place on March 14.

Medieval "Blockchain"

Before beginning the reassembly of the Gothic masterpiece, it was necessary to consolidate the medieval monument to ensure that it could support the 2.400 tonnes of stone.

To generate public interest in this project, which will last five or six years, a temporary museum, which will open in September in the garden of the basilica, will allow visitors to follow the behind-the-scenes work of the artisans.

For Julien de Saint-Jores, director of the association Suivi la Flèche, this new tour is intended to be in "the spirit of medieval building sites, with this collaboration between stonemasons and edge-tool makers at the foot of the monument, before the eyes of the public."

Old-fashioned but in keeping with the times: the association, project manager, designed this temporary museum by including virtual reality headsets and an "immersive cube" in which a 360-degree film will be projected, to immerse oneself in the history of the basilica.

A participatory sponsorship was also launched in April to collect between 3,5 and 5 million euros through the sponsorship of a specific stone, chosen from the 3D digital model of the building.

From extraction in the quarry to its installation on the monument, "you will follow a sort of blockchain of the history of your stone," boasts Julien de Saint-Jores.

From 15 to 4.000 euros, the 15.000 stones that make up the tower are virtually on sale, knowing that for the "most remarkable" elements, such as the chimeras or the rooster that sits at the top, the prices "could be higher," he specifies.

The appeal to charitable souls has been launched, but the project, with a budget of 37 million euros, is also financed by the interdepartmental solidarity fund for investment (22 million), the Île-de-France region (five million) and the Greater Paris Metropolis (four million).

Far from competing with its little sister Notre-Dame de Paris, which has already welcomed 860.000 people in the first month of its reopening, the Basilica of Saint-Denis hopes that its spire will attract more than the current 150.000 annual visitors.

Serge Santos, administrator of the basilica for the Centre des monuments nationaux, believes that "it is the suburban aspect, without doubt, which makes it a little more complicated" to have people.

He, who never runs out of anecdotes about the recumbent figures in the church, wants to believe that the artisans' village and the virtual visit of the basilica will allow "a new appropriation of the monument, a new way of discovering it."