VINCI, Major sponsor of the project to rebuild the spire of the Basilica of Saint-Denis
On Friday, 14 March 2025, the first cornerstone of the project to rebuild the spire of the Basilica of Saint-Denis, which was dismantled in 1845 after sustaining structural damage during a hurricane in 1845, was laid in the presence of Xavier Huillard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of VINCI and Virginie Leroy, Chairman of VINCI Immobilier, as well as Rachida Dati, Minister of Culture, Mathieu Hanotin, Mayor of Saint-Denis, Mgr Étienne Guillet, bishop of Saint-Denis, Marie Lavandier, President of the Centre des musées nationaux and Stéphane Bern, writer, presenter of TV history programmes and head of the Heritage Mission supported by the Ministry of Culture.
As a leading player in fostering economic and social development across the Seine-Saint-Denis area - where the Group recently built the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Village - VINCI is delighted and proud to be the project’s Major Sponsor. Reconstruction of the spire, which features a mix of private and public funding, is part of an urban regeneration project that combines tradition and modernity, where the stonemasons’ ancestral skills are enhanced through the use of innovative tools. The project will also provide the ideal platform for showcasing future careers as journeymen and stonemasons, which offer career opportunities for young people in the local area and beyond.
To coincide with the European Artistic Craft Days event on 5 and 6 April 2025, free tours are being organised of the terrace where reconstruction work will begin. To register and find out more about the tours and the project: https://www.suivezlafleche.com