Seine-Saint-Denis, a department to the north-east of Paris, is often overlooked in terms of its heritage, yet it boasts a considerable historical legacy linked to the royal presence and the industrial history of the Parisian suburbs. Saint-Denis, whose basilica served as the burial place of the kings of France for nearly twelve centuries, is the department’s most iconic monument.
The Château de Saint-Ouen, the Grange aux dîmes manor house in Villetaneuse, and several former aristocratic residences remain in this largely urbanised department, bearing witness to a rural and seigneurial past now swallowed up by the city. The Montreau farm in Savigny and the buildings of Livry-Gargan Abbey also offer examples of remarkable built heritage to be discovered in a region undergoing rapid transformation.