Saint-Denis (, ) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the northern suburbs of

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

. It is located from the centre of Paris. Saint-Denis had a population of 112,091 as of 2018. It is a

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...

(french: sous-préfecture) of the department of

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobig ...

, being the seat of the arrondissement of Saint-Denis. Saint-Denis is home to the royal necropolis of the

Basilica of Saint-Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

and was also the location of the associated

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

. It is also home to France's national football and rugby stadium, the Stade de France, built for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

. Saint-Denis is a formerly

industrial suburb An industrial suburb is a community, near a large city, with an industrial economy. These communities may be established as tax havens or as places where zoning promotes industry, or they may be industrial towns that become suburbs by urban spr ...

currently changing its economic base. Inhabitants of Saint-Denis are called ''Dionysiens''.

Name

Until the 3rd century, Saint-Denis was a small settlement called ''Catolacus'' or ''Catulliacum'', probably meaning "estate of Catullius", a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

landowner. About 250 AD, the first bishop of Paris, Saint Denis, was martyred on

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 ...

hill and buried in ''Catolacus''. Shortly after 250 AD, his grave became a shrine and a pilgrimage centre, with the building of the

Abbey of Saint Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

, and the settlement was renamed Saint-Denis. In 1793, 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 considere ...

, Saint-Denis was renamed ''Franciade'' in a gesture of rejection of religion. In 1803, however, under the

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, the city reverted to its former name of Saint-Denis.

History

During its history, Saint-Denis has been closely associated with the French royal house. Starting from

Dagobert I Dagobert I ( la, Dagobertus; 605/603 – 19 January 639 AD) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dyna ...

(c. 603–639), almost every French king was buried in the Basilica. However, Saint-Denis is older than that. In the 2nd century, there was a

village named ''Catolacus'' on the location that Saint-Denis occupies today. Saint Denis, the first bishop of Me saint of France, was martyred in about 250 AD and buried in the cemetery of Catolacus. Denis' tomb quickly became a place of worship. Around 475 AD, Sainte Geneviève had a small chapel erected on Denis' tomb, which by then had become a popular destination for pilgrims. It was this chapel that Dagobert I had rebuilt and turned into a royal monastery. Dagobert granted many privileges to the monastery: independence from the bishop of Paris, the right to hold a market, and, most importantly, he was buried in Saint-Denis; a tradition which was followed by almost all his successors. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, because of the privileges granted by Dagobert, Saint-Denis grew to become very important. Merchants from all over

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

(and indeed from the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

) came to visit its market. In 1140, Abbot Suger, counselor to the King, granted further privileges to the citizens of Saint-Denis. He also started the work of enlarging the

Basilica of Saint Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

that still exists today, often cited as the first example of high early

Gothic Architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...

. The new church was consecrated in 1144. Saint-Denis was depopulated in the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

; of its 10,000 citizens, only 3,000 remained after the war. Battle of Saint Denis 1567

During the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...

, the Battle of Saint-Denis was fought between

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

s and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

s on 10 November 1567. The Protestants were defeated, but the Catholic commander Anne de Montmorency was killed. In 1590, the city surrendered to Henry IV, who converted to Catholicism in 1593 in the abbey of Saint-Denis. King

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

(1638–1715) started several industries in Saint-Denis: weaving and spinning mills and dyehouses. His successor,

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

(1710–1774), whose daughter was a nun in the

Carmelite , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

, took a lively interest in the city: he added a chapel to the convent and also renovated the buildings of the royal abbey. Maison d'Education de la Legion d'Honneur

Maison d'Education de la Legion d'Honneur

During the French Revolution, not only was the city renamed "Franciade" from 1793 to 1803, but the royal

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

was looted and destroyed. The remains were removed from the tombs and thrown together; during the

French Restoration The Bourbon Restoration was the period of French history during which the House of Bourbon returned to power after the first fall of Napoleon on 3 May 1814. Briefly interrupted by the Hundred Days War in 1815, the Restoration lasted until the ...

, since they could not be sorted out anymore, they were reburied in a common

ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the ...

The last king to be interred in Saint-Denis was

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

(1755 – 1824). After France became a

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

and an

empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

, Saint-Denis lost its association with royalty. On 1 January 1860, the city 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 ...

was enlarged by annexing neighbouring communes. On that occasion, the commune of La Chapelle-Saint-Denis was disbanded and divided between the city of Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen, and

Aubervilliers Aubervilliers () is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, Île-de-France region, northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Albertivillariens'' or ''Albertivillariennes''. Geography Localisati ...

. Saint-Denis received the north-western part of La Chapelle-Saint-Denis. During the 19th century, Saint-Denis became increasingly industrialised. Transport was much improved: in 1824 the

Canal Saint-Denis The Canal Saint-Denis is a canal in Paris that is in length. The canal connects the Canal de l'Ourcq, at a point north-northwest of the Bassin de la Villette in the 19th arrondissement, with the suburban municipalities of Saint-Denis and Auberv ...

was constructed, linking the

Canal de l'Ourcq The Canal de l'Ourcq is a long canal in the Île-de-France region (greater Paris) with 10 locks. It was built at a width of but was enlarged to 3.7 m (12 ft), which permitted use by more pleasure boats. The canal begins at Port-au ...

in the northeast of Paris to the River

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

at the level of

L'Île-Saint-Denis L'Île-Saint-Denis (, ; ) is a French commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune is entirely contained on an island of the Seine River, hence its name. Along with the communes ...

, and in 1843 the first

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

reached Saint-Denis. By the end of the century, there were 80 factories in Saint-Denis. The presence of so many industries also gave rise to an important

socialist movement The history of socialism has its origins in the 1789 French Revolution and the changes which it brought, although it has precedents in earlier movements and ideas. ''The Communist Manifesto'' was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1847-4 ...

. In 1892, Saint-Denis elected its first

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

administration, and by the 1920s, the city had acquired the nickname of ''la ville rouge'', the red city. Until

Jacques Doriot Jacques Doriot (; 26 September 1898 – 22 February 1945) was a French politician, initially communist, later fascist, before and during World War II. In 1936, after his exclusion from the Communist Party, he founded the French Popular Party (P ...

in 1934, all mayors of Saint-Denis were members of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, after the defeat of France, Saint-Denis was occupied by the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

on 13 June 1940. There were several acts of sabotage and strikes, most notably on 14 April 1942 at the Hotchkiss factory. After an

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...

which started on 18 August 1944, Saint-Denis was liberated by the 2nd Armored Division (France) on 27 August 1944. After the war, the economic crisis of the 1970s and 1980s hit the city, which was strongly dependent on its heavy industry. During the 1990s, however, the city started to grow again. The 1998 FIFA World Cup provided an enormous impulse; the main stadium for the tournament, the Stade de France, was built in Saint-Denis, along with many infrastructural improvements, such as the extension of the

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

to Saint-Denis-Université. The stadium is used by the national

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

teams for friendly matches. The

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

and

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

final matches are held there, as well as the

Meeting Areva Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamon ...

international athletics event. Saint-Denis rue Gabriel-Peri

Since 2000, Saint-Denis has worked with seven neighbouring ''communes'' (

Villetaneuse Villetaneuse () is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Heraldry Population Education Primary and secondary schools The commune has four prescho ...

Pierrefitte-sur-Seine Pierrefitte-sur-Seine (, literally ''Pierrefitte on Seine'') is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department and Île-de-France region of France. Today forming part of the northern suburbs of Paris, Pierrefitte lies from the centre of the Fre ...

Épinay-sur-Seine Épinay-sur-Seine (, literally ''Épinay on Seine'') is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The church of Notre-Dame-des-Missions-du-cygne d'Enghien, designed by Paul Tournon, may be found ...

(since 2003),

Stains A stain is an unwanted localized discoloration, often in fabrics or textiles. Stain(s) or The Stain(s) may also refer to: Color * Stain (heraldry), a non-standard tincture * Staining, in biology, a technique used to highlight contrast in samples ...

(since 2003), and

La Courneuve La Courneuve () is a commune in Seine-Saint-Denis, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History Inhabited since pre-Roman times, the area is thought to have been a small village up through the Middle Ages. With its proximity to Par ...

(since 2005)) in Plaine Commune. In 2003, together with Paris, Saint-Denis hosted the second

European Social Forum The European Social Forum (ESF) was a recurring conference held by members of the alter-globalization movement (also known as the Global Justice Movement). In the first few years after it started in 2002 the conference was held every year, but late ...

. On 13–14 November 2015, Saint-Denis was the main location of a series of mass shootings and hostage-takings just outside the Stade de France. On 18 November, a major follow-up raid occurred. Several suspects were killed, including alleged mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud. In 2016, Saint-Denis was one of the host cities of the UEFA European Football Championships, including the opening game.

Heraldry

* Motto : Saint Denys Montjoie ! * The coat of arms are described in Old French by the phrase: ''Azure semé de lys Or'' (also known as ''France ancien''). File:Blason de Saint-Denis.svg, Arms of Saint-Denis File:Photo du blason de la ville de saint denis.JPG, Arms on the front of the post office, rue de la République

Population

Immigration

Maghrebians

18.1% of the population of Saint-Denis was Maghrebian. Melissa K. Brynes, author of ''French Like Us? Municipal Policies and North African Migrants in the Parisian Banlieues, 1945–1975'', wrote that in the middle of the 20th century, "few of he Paris-area communes with North African populationswere as engaged with their migrant communities as the Dionysiens."

Transport

Saint-Denis is served by

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

, RER,

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

, and

Transilien Transilien () is the brand name given to the commuter rail network serving Île-de-France, the region surrounding and including the city of Paris. The network consists of eight lines: Transilien Line H, H, Transilien Line J, J, Transilien Line ...

connections. The Saint-Denis rail station, built in 1846, was formerly the only one in Saint-Denis, but today serves as an interchange station for the Transilien Paris – Nord (Line H) suburban rail line and RER line D. The French rail company

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

is also based in the town.

Paris Métro Line 12 Paris Métro Line 12 (opened as Line A; French: ''Ligne 12 du métro de Paris'') is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro. It links Issy-les-Moulineaux, a suburban town southwest of Paris, to Mairie d'Aubervilliers, in the town of Aubervi ...

: *

Front Populaire The Popular Front (french: Front populaire) was an alliance of French left-wing movements, including the communist French Communist Party (PCF), the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and the progressive Radical-S ...

Paris Métro Line 13 Paris Métro Line 13 (opened as Line B; French: ''Ligne 13 du métro de Paris'') is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro. It was built by the Nord-Sud Company before becoming Line 13 when the Nord-Sud was merged into the Compagnie du ch ...

: * Carrefour Pleyel * Saint-Denis - Porte de Paris (closest Metro station to the Stade de France) * Basilique de Saint-Denis (in the centre of town, near the

Saint Denis Basilica The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

) * Saint-Denis – Université

Tramways in Île-de-France The Île-de-France tramways (french: Tramways d'Île-de-France) consists of a network of modern tram lines in the Île-de-France region of France. Eleven lines are currently operational (counting Lines 3a and 3b as separate lines), with extension ...

: * T1: Asnières-Gennevilliers – Noisy-le-Sec: *T5: Saint-Denis – Garges-Sarcelles *T8: Saint-Denis – Épinay-sur-Seine / Villetaneuse Regional Rail: * La Plaine – Stade de France: RER line B * Stade de France – Saint-Denis: RER line D * Saint-Denis: ** Transilien Paris – Nord (Line H) suburban rail line. ** RER Line D

Crime

Saint-Denis is known for its crime, with high rates of robbery, drugs offences and murder. In 2005 it had 15,071 criminal incidents per 100,000 inhabitants, far higher than the national average (8,300 per 100,000) and higher than its department

also known as '93' with 9,567 crimes per 100,000. Saint-Denis also holds the record for the highest rate of violence in Europe (31.27 per thousand while the national average is 6 in France) with 1,899 violent robberies and 1,031 assaults in 2010 (equivalent to an average of 6 robberies and 3 assaults per day) Because the inhabitants of Saint-Denis suffer with daily insecurity and entrenched delinquency, the

Minister of Public Safety The minister of public safety (french: ministre de la sécurité publique) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet responsible for overseeing Public Safety Canada, the internal security department of the Government of Canada. The ...

Jean-Marc Ayrault Jean-Marc Ayrault (; born 25 January 1950) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2012 to 31 March 2014. He later was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2017. He previously was Mayor of Nantes from 1989 t ...

increased national police force in the Basilica district and the Landy Nord, classifying them as a Priority Security Zone 'ZSP' since 2012. In 2014, a total of 14,437 crimes have been reported for 110,000 inhabitants. Police efficiency has been reported to be very low, with only 19.82% of crimes solved by the police. Saint-Denis made international headlines for

violent disorder Violent disorder is a statutory offence in England and Wales. It is created bsection 2(1)of the Public Order Act 1986. Sections 2(1) to (4) of that Act provide: :(1) Where 3 or more persons who are present together use or threaten unlawful violen ...

before and after the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final, in which fans of visiting English teams

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

and Real Madrid were beaten and robbed by gangs of young men. Subtitled testimony of victims circulated in France, becoming an issue in the 2022 French legislative election. Before the game, French former footballer

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best player ...

said on English-language television "The final is in Saint-Denis, not Paris. Trust me, you don’t want to be in Saint-Denis."

Education

Saint-Denis has 29 public preschools/nursery schools (''écoles maternelles''). Saint-Denis has 30 public elementary schools (''écoles élémentaires''), with one of those schools (École Élémentaire Maria Casarès) being an intercommunal school.La liste des écoles élémentaires de Saint-Denis
" Saint-Denis. Retrieved on 1 February 2012. Saint-Denis has eight public junior high schools (''collèges'').Les collèges dans la ville
." Saint-Denis. Retrieved on 31 January 2012. Saint-Denis has the following senior high schools/sixth-form colleges: Lycée Bartholdi, Lycée Paul Éluard, Lycée Suger, and Lycée d’application de l’E.N.N.A.Les lycées dans la ville
." Saint-Denis. Retrieved on 31 January 2012. Saint-Denis has one private elementary, middle, and high school ('' Ensemble Scolaire Jean-Baptiste de la Salle-Notre Dame de la Compassion'') and one private middle and high school ('' Collège et lycée Saint-Vincent-de-Paul'').

Notable people

* Nakibou Aboubakari, footballer * Sami Ameziane, humourist () *

Jean-Christophe Bahebeck Jean-Christophe Bahebeck (born 1 May 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Palmaflor. He is described as a player who is "very fast with both feet" and is a good striker of the ball. Despite beginning his career ...

, footballer *

Paule Baudouin Paule Baudouin (born 25 October 1984) is a French handball player, playing for the French club Fleury Loiret HB and for the French national team. She was born in Saint Denis. She made her debut on the French national team in 2004. She competed ...

, handball player * Maurice Beyina, basketball player *

Thievy Bifouma Thievy Guivane Bifouma Koulossa (born 13 May 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Super League Greece club OFI. He spent most of his early career in Spain, totalling 68 La Liga games and eight goals for Espanyol, Alm ...

, footballer * Ernest Cadine, athlete *

Franck Chantalou Franck Chantalou (born 22 June 1980 in Saint Denis, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and th ...

, karateka * Vincent Clarico, athlete *

Angelo Debarre Angelo Debarre ( (born on August 19, 1962) is a French Romani gypsy jazz guitarist. Biography Debarre was born in Saint-Denis, Paris, and began playing at age eight. In 1984, he formed his first group, the Angelo Debarre Quintet. In 1985, t ...

, musician *

Pierre Degeyter Pierre Chrétien De Geyter (; 8 October 1848 – 26 September 1932) was a Belgian Socialism, socialist and a composer, known for writing the music of ''The Internationale''. Early life De Geyter was born in Ghent, Belgium, where his parents, ...

, composer *

Charles Dezobry Louis Charles Dezobry (4 March 1798 – 16 August 1871) was a 19th-century French historian and historical novelist, born at St-Denis. Works * ''Rome au siècle d'Auguste, ou Voyage d'un Gaulois à Rome à l'époque du règne d'Auguste et p ...

, author *

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

, poet * , mayor * Jean-Marc Grava, athlete * Auriol Guillaume, footballer * Abdelaziz Kamara, footballer * Vasseko Karamoko, footballer * Jonathan Kodjia, footballer * Moussa Koita, footballer *

Albert Lebourg Albert Lebourg (1 February 1849, in Montfort-sur-Risle – 6 January 1928, in Rouen), birth name ''Albert-Marie Lebourg'', also called ''Albert-Charles Lebourg'' and ''Charles Albert Lebourg'', was a French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist la ...

, painter * L.E.J, musical trio * Loic Lumbilla footballer * Rosere Manguelle, footballer *

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

, painter *

Louis-Gabriel Moreau Louis-Gabriel Moreau (1740 – 12 October 1806) was a French graphic artist and landscape painter. He is frequently identified as "Moreau the elder" (''"Moreau l’Aîné"'') in order to avoid confusion with his precocious younger brother, th ...

, painter *

Astride N'Gouan Adjoba Astride N'Gouan (born 9 July 1991) is a French handballer for Paris 92 and the French national team. She is of Ivorian descent. Achievements Club * Championnat de France: **''Gold Medalist:'' 2019 and 2022 (with Metz Handball) **''Sil ...

, handball player * Rodrigue Nordin, athlete *

Sabrina Ouazani Sabrina Ouazani (born 6 December 1988) is a French actress of Algerian descent. She is best known internationally for her performance as Frida in ''Games of Love and Chance'' and as Charlotte Ben Smires in Netflix's hit rom-com series '' The Ho ...

, actress *

Francisque Poulbot Francisque Poulbot (6 February 1879, in Saint-Denis – 16 September 1946, in Paris) was a French (literally, "poster designer"), draughtsman and illustrator. Biography He was born in a family of teachers with parents who were lecturers. Franc ...

, illustrator * Michael Raffaelli, painter * Soukeina Sagna, handball player * Yannis Salibur, footballer *

Kool Shen Bruno Lopes (, ; born 9 February 1966), better known as Kool Shen, is a French rapper, actor and producer, with Portuguese and Breton origins. He is also a break dancer and a graffiti artist. He is a co-founder of Suprême NTM and one of th ...

, rapper (

Suprême NTM Suprême NTM (), or simply NTM, is a French hip hop band formed in 1989 in Seine-Saint-Denis. The band comprises rappers JoeyStarr and Kool Shen. Their 6 albums were released by Sony Music Entertainment. The group takes its name from the Fre ...

)Gross, Joan, David McMurray, and Ted Swedenburg. "Arab Noise and Ramadan Nights: Rai, Rap, and Franco-Maghrebi Identities" (Anthropology: Postcolonial Studies). In: Lavie, Smadar and Ted Swedenburg. ''Displacement, Diaspora, and Geographies of Identity''.

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 Du ...

, 1996. , 9780822317203. p
142
*

Paul Signac Paul Victor Jules Signac ( , ; 11 November 1863 – 15 August 1935) was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, working with Georges Seurat, helped develop the Pointillist style. Biography Paul Signac was born in Paris on 11 November 1863. H ...

, painter * William Soliman, basketball player * Joey Starr, rapper (

) * Brahim Thiam, footballer * Alassane Toure, footballer *

Alioune Toure Alioune is a masculine given name. Notable people with the surname include: *Alioune Ba (footballer) (born 1989), French footballer *Alioune Bâ (born 1959), Malian photographer * Alioune Badará (born 1989), Senegalese footballer * Alioune Badara ...

, footballer * Yannick Urbino, athlete *

Maurice Utrillo Maurice Utrillo (), born Maurice Valadon; 26 December 1883 – 5 November 1955), was a French painter of the School of Paris who specialized in cityscapes. Born in the Montmartre quarter of Paris, France, Utrillo is one of the few famous pain ...

, painter *

Anne Vernon Anne Vernon (born Édith Antoinette Alexandrine Vignaud; born 7 January 1924) is a French actress. She appeared in 40 films between 1948 and 1970, including three films that were entered into the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. She ...

, actress *

Sofiane Zermani Sofiane Zermani (, ar, سفيان زرماني; born 21 July 1986) is a French rapper. He is also known as Fianso (; verlan of his first name). Born in Saint-Denis, Paris Region, he lived in the nearby Stains until age 13 when he moved to Le ...

, musician * Barbara Pravi, Singer-Songwriter

Points of interest

, a 12th-century church, burial place of kings of France * Stade de France, the national stadium of France *

Cité du Cinéma The Cité du Cinéma or Studios of Paris is a film studio complex originally supported and founded by the film director and producer Luc Besson, located in Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris, in a renovated power plant, commissioned in ...

, film studios founded by

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

Twin towns — sister cities

Saint-Denis is twinned with: * Córdoba,

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, Spain *

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

, Germany *

Tiznit Tiznit or Tiznet ( ar, تزنيت, Tiznīt; ber, ⵜⵉⵣⵏⵉⵜ, Tiznit) is a town in the west coast of the Moroccan region of Souss-Massa, founded in 1881 by the Sultan Hassan I. It is the capital of Tiznit Province and recorded a populat ...

, Morocco *

Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...

, Scotland, United Kingdom * Guarulhos,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, Brazil *

Sesto San Giovanni Sesto San Giovanni (; lmo, Sest San Giovann, label=Western Lombard ), locally referred to as just Sesto ( lmo, Sest, links=no), is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. Its railway station is the northernmost s ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, Italy *

Tuzla Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants. Tuzla is the economic, cultural, e ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina *

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

, Israel

References

External links

City council website

Saint-Denis, a town in the Middle Ages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintdenis Communes of Seine-Saint-Denis Cities in Île-de-France Subprefectures in France Cities in France

Name

History

Heraldry

Population

Immigration

Maghrebians

Transport

Crime

Education

Notable people

Points of interest

Twin towns — sister cities

References

Further reading

External links