Suger begins rebuilding Saint-Denis

1136

Abbot Suger of the royal abbey of Saint-Denis outside Paris began reconstructing the west facade and choir of his church, flooding the sacred interior with cascading colored light through pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and vast windows of stained glass. The result - what later generations would name the Gothic style - revolutionized European architecture within a single decade and spread rapidly north to the great cathedrals at Chartres, Reims, and beyond.