The hill of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

became a place of popular pilgrimage after a chapel was erected by the people of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, around 475, where Saint Denis, the first

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of Paris, was

martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

. In the ninth century, the chapel, which had become ruined, was rebuilt. Archaeological excavations indicate that many Christians were buried in Montmartre. Their bones were gathered in a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

on the side of the hill: the

Martyrium A martyrium (Latin) or martyrion (Greek), plural ''martyria'', sometimes anglicized martyry (pl. martyries), is a church or shrine built over the tomb of a Christian martyr. It is associated with a specific architectural form, centered on a cent ...

or champ des morts. Construction work during the 16th century exposed a staircase leading down to a

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

with three

graves A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as gravey ...

marked with a

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a s ...

and ancient inscriptions. This discovery led people to believe that this was the site where Saint Denis and his companions had been beheaded and buried. The abbesses of

Montmartre Abbey Montmartre Abbey (french: Abbaye de Montmartre) was a 12th-century Benedictine monastery established in the Montmartre district of Paris within the Diocese of Paris. In 1133, King Louis VI purchased the Merovingian church of Saint Peter ...

erected the Sanctum Martyrium Chapel and new monastic buildings around the crypt. On August 15, 1534, in the Martyrium, Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Pierre Favre and four other companions pronounced their religious vows of poverty and chastity, and promised to make a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. This "Vow of Montmartre" (Vœu de Montmartre) was received by Pierre Favre, then the only

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

of the group, when he gave them communion. It was the origin of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

('Jesuits'), which was given Papal approval through the

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Neutering, castrated) adult male of the species ''Cattle, Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., Cattle, cows), bulls have long been an important symbol i ...

'' Regimini militantis ecclesiae'' in 1540. Montmartre Abbey was split between the Upper Abbey, the original buildings on the hilltop which were abandoned in the late 17th century, and The Lower Abbey, which corresponded to the new buildings erected around the Sanctum Martyrium. During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

, Montmartre Abbey, the Sanctum Martyrium Chapel, and its crypt were destroyed. The current crypt is located on the perimeter of the parish of

Saint-Pierre de Montmartre Saint-Pierre de Montmartre () is one of the oldest surviving churches in Paris, second to the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, but the lesser known of the two main churches in Montmartre, the other being the more famous 19th-century Sacré-Cœ ...

. It was built between 1884 and 1887 in the chapel of the

Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls The Society of Helpers, formerly known as the Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Paris, France, in 1856, with the objective of assisting the souls in Purgatory through their serv ...

(Sœurs Auxiliatrices du Purgatoire), a female religious congregation taking inspiration from Ignatius, founded in the nineteenth century by the Blessed

Eugénie Smet The Society of Helpers, formerly known as the Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Paris, France, in 1856, with the objective of assisting the souls in Purgatory through their serv ...

(1825-1871). They had installed their "maison généralice" in Antoinette Street (now rue Yvonne Le Tac). This was on the site of the old buildings housing the Martyrium of the chapel in what was called, up to the French Revolution, "the Lower Abbey"; it was blessed on August 15, 1887, by the Archbishop of Paris and sustains the memory of these two events (the martyrdom of Denis and the Vow of Montmartre) which are of considerable significance for the Church. The Martyrium is cared for by ''l'Association de la Crypte du Martyrium de Saint Denis et du Souvenir de Saint Ignace de Loyola'', who open it to the public on Friday afternoons.

Notes

{{Coord, 48.8867, 2.3419, display=title Cemeteries in Paris Tourist attractions in Paris Buildings and structures in the 18th arrondissement of Paris Society of Jesus Montmartre