UEFA Euro 2016 host city: Saint-Denis. The Basilica of Saint Denis. [Photo/IC]

Region: Ile-de-France

Population: 110,000

Located 10km north of the center of Paris, Saint-Denis started life as the village of Catolacus before adopting the name of a Christian martyr buried there after his beheading on nearby Montmartre. His tomb became a place of worship, and a chapel was built on it until around 630 AD when King Dagobert I turned it into a royal monastery, which he granted independence from the Bishop of Paris. Some 75 kings and queens, from Dagobert I to Louis XVIII, are buried in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint-Denis.