Sacred Haven of Debauchery

Around 272 AD, the first Bishop of Paris, Saint Dionysius, the presbyter Rusticus, and the deacon Eleutherius were beheaded here for preaching Christianity. According to legend, after the beheading, Dionysius picked up his severed head, washed it in a spring, and walked approximately 6 kilometers. The place where he collapsed and died became the site that was later called Saint-Denis.