Martyrium of Saint Denis, Montmartre

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The crypt of the martyrium of Saint Denis is a religious building in the Montmartre district at 11, rue Yvonne-Le-Tac, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It is the place of several significant episodes of religious history.

History: The crypt is supposed to be on the site of the beheading of Denis de Paris, a Christian martyred in the third century. As early as the 5th century, this place at the middle of the Montmartre hill became a pilgrimage where Geneviève de Paris went. A chapel was established in the 9th century. In 1133 Queen Adèle de Savoie founded the Abbey of Montmartre, a Benedictine female abbey, from which the crypt chapel fell into ruins in the 11th century. It was consecrated by Pope Eugene III, Bernard de Clairvaux and Peter the Venerable, and received in 1169 Thomas Becket on pilgrimage. On August 15, 1534, Ignatius of Loyola, François Xavier, Pierre Favre and four other companions made religious vows of poverty and chastity, and promised to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem every two years to convert the unbelievers. This "hope of Montmartre" is received by Pierre Favre, then the only priest in the group, at the moment when he...