The capital of the island of Reunion of cosmopolitan Saint Denis. The history of Saint-Denis dating back to the second century with the existence of a Gallo-Roman villa called Catolacus. In 250, he was buried here in Paris Denis, the first bishop of Paris and patron saint of France, after being martyred in the Montmartre hill, turning the place into a pilgrimage destination. About 475, St. Genevieve built a small chapel at the grave of Denis, which would be rebuilt by Dagobert I and converted into the royal monastery. At his death, was buried in the chapel, a tradition that was followed by most of his successors. In the Middle Ages, under the privileges guaranteed by Dagoberto (such as independence from Paris), Saint-Denis grew rapidly thanks to its market, which came several caravans from even the Byzantine Empire. In 1125, they were granted more privileges to the town and began the construction of the current basilica. Despite its rapid growth, Saint-Denis suffered intensely the effects of war: of the 10,000 citizens of the town, only 3,000 survived after the Hundred Years War. Here was fought the battle of Saint-Denis in the context of the Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants, November 10, 1567. Under the reign of Louis XIV, settled various industries in Saint-Denis, while his successor, Louis XV renovated buildings of the royal abbey. During the French Revolution, the city was renamed "Franciade" between 1793 and 1803, as part of the revolutionary rejection of religion, and the royal necropolis was destroyed and looted. After the Restoration, the real bodies should be buried in a common grave unable to identify the remains destroyed. The last king buried in Saint-Denis was Louis XVIII. In 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing its nearby communities. The town of La Chapelle-Saint-Denis was divided between Paris, Saint-Ouen, and Aubervilliers, while Saint-Denis was in the northwest of the municipality. Throughout the nineteenth century, industrialization of the city intensified and transportation improved with the construction of the Canal Saint-Denis in 1824, which allowed the town to join the River Seine. In 1843 he built the first railroad. By the end of the century, there were 80 industries in Saint-Denis. The industrial presence caused the growth of important social movements. In 1892 he was elected the first socialist administration and already during the 1920s, Saint-Denis was named as the city rouge (the red city). Until the election of Jacques Doriot in 1934, all mayors had been members of the Communist Party. View Stade de France in Saint-Denis. After the defeat of France during World War II, Saint-Denis was occupied by the Germans on June 13, 1940, but had to face various acts of insubordination on the part of the population until the liberation of the city on August 27 , 1944. After the war, the economic crisis of the 1970s and 1980s hit the city hard, and only began to recover during 1990. The World Cup 1998 gave new impetus to the city: the construction of the main stadium, the Stade de France, joined the general improvement in infrastructure and the extension of the Metro in Paris.