Suger became abbot of Saint-Denis in 1122 and began rebuilding the abbey church around 1135. He started at the west end, adding a narthex and a new facade, finished in 1140. The east end, or chevet, was built from 1140 to 1144. The article calls the choir, completed in 1144, widely considered the first structure to use all the elements of Gothic architecture: rib vaults, pointed arches and exterior buttresses. Slender columns replaced heavy walls and let in more light.
The west facade is 112 feet (34 m) wide, with three portals and a rose window. Saint-Denis became the burial place of French kings, and in 1264 the bones of 16 former kings and queens were moved to new tombs around the crossing.
Abbot Odo Clement began rebuilding the nave in 1231 in Rayonnant Gothic. Only the south tower survives, as the north tower was dismantled after a tornado in 1846. The church became a cathedral in 1966.
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