This grandiose basilica, a gem of French Gothic architecture, occupies an important place in French history. In 754, Pepin the Short was crowned king in Saint-Denis by the Pope and since the time of the Capetians every French king and queen has been buried here. It boasts a collection - the only one of its kind in Europe - of recumbent figures and tombs dating from the 12C-16C which forms an impressive chronology of the history of France and the history of art. In the crypt, an ossuary houses the remains of members of the royal family whose tombs were vandalised during the French Revolution.