The reassembly of the bell tower and the north-western spire of the basilica of Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) could begin in the spring of 2023. The date for the start of archaeological excavations has been postponed several times, but it now appears to be well established. , to January 2022. Barring a dramatic turn of events, work to consolidate the facade should follow.
The mayor (PS) of the city, Mathieu Hanotin, dreams of seeing the operation completed in 2028, a political horizon that he set for himself by launching Saint-Denis in the race for the label of European capital of culture. Critical of the project when he was in opposition, this socialist, whose election in 2020 put an end to decades of communist management, makes him today the “totem” of the candidacy.
Considered the first monumental masterpiece of Gothic art, the basilica, which houses the secular necropolis of the kings of France, saw its spire (86 meters high) and its north bell tower dismantled in 1846. The facade s ‘was found weakened by severe weather. It was planned to consolidate it, and to reassemble the bell tower and its spire, but this never was done, and the building imposed its new shape, asymmetrical (it was already a little, the second bell tower does not). being him not wearing an arrow). It prevents. Since 1971, the mayors of Saint-Denis have never ceased to want to give the building the silhouette that was its own during its golden age, between the 12th century.e and XIXe centuries.
Self-funded work
When François Hollande gave the green light to the operation, in 2017, there was talk of it being financed by private sponsorship and by ticket sales from a school site open to the public, which would have trained in the techniques of stonemasons from the Middle Ages.
The principle of self-financed work by the school building site was defended by Jacques Moulin, the chief architect of historical monuments, who restored the west facade of the Saint-Denis basilica in 2015. In 1997, he launched an operation of this type at the castle of Guédelon (Yonne).
Didier Paillard, the former communist mayor (PCF) of the city, and his predecessor, Patrick Braouezec (PCF), who became president of Plaine Commune, saw this idea as a way to finally obtain the agreement of the State for rebuild this arrow. With the association Follow the Arrow, created for the occasion, they have rallied to their cause the city’s businesses and many public figures, including the writer and academician Erik Orsenna or the producer and filmmaker Luc Besson.
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