2. St. Denis functions as it did when it was built: it acts as a Roman Catholic Church, a pilgrimage location and a tourist attraction, and a burial site for many French kings and other French nobility. The original intention of Suger’s redesign was to use the church’s beauty to glorify god.
3. …show more content…
St. Denis is a gothic church, and is often cited as the first church with a gothic style. It is classified as gothic because of its inclusion of flying buttresses and stained glass windows, a frontal facade with three sections, three portals with decorated archivolts, and a rose window. It also has an interior with ribbed ceilings, pointed arches, stained glass, and a sense of light and airiness.
4. Today, St. Denis matches its environment only somewhat well. Just as the church’s interior is spacious, so is the outside spacious, as there is a small plaza outside the church’s front façade with cafes nearby. There is also a tiny park to the building’s left. However, while the surrounding buildings are of similar masonry to the church, they are not in a gothic style. There is also a building to the right of the church that is coated in glass windows, a modern architecture feature that starkly contrasts the church’s traditional