The hill of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

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

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, around 475, where Saint Denis, the first

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of Paris, was

martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' 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 party. In colloquial ...

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

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

with three graves marked with a

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

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 erected the Sanctum Martyrium Chapel and new monastic buildings around the crypt. On August 15, 1534, in the Martyrium,

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, Jesuits, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Kingdom of Navarre, Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus ...

, Pierre Favre and four other companions pronounced their religious vows of poverty and chastity, and promised to make a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. 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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

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

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

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

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

'' 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, 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. It was built between 1884 and 1887 in the chapel of the Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls (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 servi ...

(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