Paris has two “saint patrons” : a man and a woman.
The female saint of Paris is Saint Genoveve (Geneviève). She was born about 420 AD and died about 512. She’s also the saint of the police. The tale about her is that it was thanks to her that the Huns of Attila spared Paris in 451.
There are three Sainte-Geneviève churches in Paris:
- Sainte-Geneviève des Grandes-Carrières
- The Abbey Sainte-Geneviève de Paris, now an elite high school and college (that’s where Président Macron studied when he was young)
- The church Sainte-Geneviève, better known as… the Panthéon.
Moonik / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
The male saint of Paris is Saint Denis. He has a funny tale: he was the first bishop of Paris. About 250, he was beheaded by the Romans as a christian martyr, in Montmartre. After his death, he rose, picked up his head in his hands and walked north 6 km (about 4 miles), where he collapsed for good.
VVVCFFrance / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
There, a church was built: the Basilica Saint-Denis, where all the kings of France were buried for centuries:
Chabe01 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
