<P> In the 12th century the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the abbey church using innovative structural and decorative features . In doing so , he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building . The basilica 's 13th - century nave is the prototype for the Rayonnant Gothic style , and provided an architectural model for many medieval cathedrals and abbeys of northern France , Germany , England and a great many other countries . </P>
who is considered the founder of gothic architecture with his renovation of st. denis
the Abbot Suger