Saint Denis

"A key gateway into North America with a trade route that runs the length of the country, the bustling city of Saint Denis is a melting pot of cultures and people where businessmen, socialites, sailors, laborers, beggars, and thieves all live side by side."

- Website description

Saint Denis is a major city and the capital of the state of Lemoyne, situated in the southern half of the Bayou Nwa on the banks of the Lannahechee River.

It is the largest city in Red Dead Redemption 2, and is also the largest settlement in the entire Red Dead series.

Description
Saint Denis is a heavily industrialized city, containing large factories with towering chimneys. As a modern city, it incorporates paved streets, has a uniformed constabulary and operates a network of tram lines. Some areas of the city are dark, covered in a blanket of fog with the sky being blocked out by smoke from the factories. Other areas are green, lively and well-lit.

To the north are some small ranches; just south of these are the slums of the city, where street urchins are prevalent. This district features small, cramped streets, dark, run-down hovels and an abundance of homeless people. African-Americans are in abundance around the ghetto. To the west of the city, there are large mansions, manors and estates, belonging to the wealthiest citizens of Saint Denis. To the south of the city, near the Lannahechee River, is a large industrialized zone full of factories, warehouses, cargo ports and storage facilities.

Saint Denis is very lively and populated, with bustling streets and markets, making the city feel crowded and claustrophobic. At any given time, there are trams gliding down the middle of roads, wagons slowly making their way down the streets, dogs playing and barking at passers-by, and people chatting and shopping in local stores.

The city is very diverse with residents of many backgrounds, religions and ethnic groups. Many African-Americans reside in the slums in the northeastern district of the city. Because of the city's French history, French citizens can be encountered throughout the town, often greeting the player with "Bonjour!" A sizeable Chinese diaspora can be found within the city too, particularly around the markets of Saint Denis. Many Italians also reside in the city.

Much like the rest of Lemoyne, temperatures in Saint Denis are high. Temperatures never drop below single figures (Celsius), even at night. At day, temperatures range from anywhere in the late teens to as high as the mid-thirties (also in Celsius), depending on the weather. Saint Denis is on approximately the same latitude as Blackwater and Rhodes.

Transport
Saint Denis is a well developed, large city and is the capital of the state of Lemoyne, and as a result, has the most extensive public transport system in the entire Red Dead series.

Trams
Cornwall City Rail Company operates the Saint Denis Trolley Services that covers the majority of the city, operating two lines. The Blue Loop is the longest trolley line in Saint Denis, stopping at 8 stations covering the commercial district and old quarter. Stopping at popular destinations such as a the Lemoyne Supreme Court, Market district and the Port of Saint Denis. The Blue Loop provides a train interchange at the Victoria Street Station. The much smaller Red Loop, circles around Harris Square in the northwestern part of the city where the more affluent residents reside.

All trams stop at Milyonne Avenue, providing an interchange between the two services.

Railway
Pacific Union Railroad and Central Union Railroad both frequent the Saint Denis railway station situated opposite the Victoria Street trolley station. The railway line continues along the southern and eastern edge of Saint Denis traveling north to the state of New Hanover. The station also acts as an important freight route, with the Port of Saint Denis situated alongside the railway station.

Coaches
Davis Overland Despatch Company has a stop outside the Victoria Street trolley station with coaches available for the player to travel to major settlements and locations of the southern states of the United States as seen in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Interactions
Saint Denis plays a big part in Chapter 4, being where Angelo Bronte resides. After having Jack Marston sold to him by the Braithwaites, the Van der Linde gang venture down to reclaim him. After successfully rescuing him, the gang are invited to a party. Here, they learn about several lucrative robbery opportunities: a riverboat, a national bank, and the trolley station – a tip given to them by Bronte. After first taking a large haul from the riverboat job, Dutch, Arthur and Lenny attempt to hit trolley station. However the take turns out to be minimal and the trio are forced to flee from the police. Realizing that it was a trap set by Bronte, the gang proceed to ambush Bronte's manor and murder him, against Hosea's wishes.

The gang then plan to rob Lemoyne National Bank. However, this is foiled when the Pinkertons manage to intercept the robbery and capture Hosea. Dutch attempts to make a deal with Milton, but he personally executes Hosea in front of the gang and orders his men to open fire on the bank. During the ensuing shootout, John is captured by the Pinkertons and Lenny is killed, during the gang's escape. The gang hide out in an abandoned apartment until nightfall, when they decide to leave America by boat. After Charles draws the Pinkertons away, they stowaway on a boat and eventually end up marooned on Guarma after the ship sinks in a storm.

Later, after the gang returns home, Arthur and Sadie devise a plan to rescue John, against Dutch's wishes, and Arthur heads to Doyle's Tavern to meet her. On the way, however, he suffers a serious coughing fit and passes out in the streets near the tavern. He is taken to the doctor, who diagnoses him with tuberculosis. After a moment of disbelief and distress from the news, Arthur continues to Doyle's Tavern, where he meets Sadie.

Later, the city hosts the hanging of Colm O'Driscoll. Arthur, Dutch and Sadie attend the hanging to ensure he does not escape. While the hanging is a success, Sadie angrily kills the other O'Driscolls, and the trio are forced to flee.

The city is the start of the gang's last robbery together, where they intercept a train carrying Army payroll; a sum of money large enough that the gang hope to use it to leave America.

At some point after Arthur's death in 1899, Saint Denis is taken over by one of Bronte's henchmen named Guido Martelli. John finds Charles in Saint Denis, where he is participating in a fighting tournament. Charles wins the fight, but the duo are subsequently ambushed by Martelli's men, who desire revenge after Charles tricked them into believing that he'd throw the fight. After Charles finds his possessions, the two leave the city on a cart and successfully evade their pursuers, after which John proclaims that he hates Saint Denis. John also finds Tilly in Saint Denis, where she had moved to in order to start a new life. She and John talk about their respective circumstances, before their conversation is cut short when she has to board a tram.

Trivia

 * Saint Denis is based on the real-world city of New Orleans, Louisiana sharing a number of similarities, just as Lemoyne does with the real-world state of Louisiana.
 * The city name of "Saint Denis" refers to the patron saint of Paris, with the city's seal seemingly depicting the martyr in his conventional beheaded state (see below). Similarily, New Orleans (the real-life counterpart of Saint Denis) is named after Orleans - a commune and prefecture in Paris, France.
 * Much like real life New Orleans, the street names of Saint Denis are written on the sidewalks, with blue lettering on white tiles.
 * The prominent statue near the Saint Denis train station is nearly identical to the real-world bronze statue of Henry Clay that was built in the 1860s and still stands in Lafayette Square in New Orleans. In the year of 1891, when the actual statue was on Canal Street, it became the location for the incitement of the notorious mob that lynched eleven Italian-Americans for allegedly murdering Police Chief David Hennessy. Although the motives and identities of the murderers remain debated to this day, many locals at the time blamed the Italian Mafia. Conversations with Saint Denis citizens and articles in the Saint Denis Times (in which the murdered police chief is named "Henry Jenkins") allude to such events and tensions.
 * In real-life, Saint Denis is a suburb of Paris, and is home to both the Basilica of Saint-Denis, and the Stade de France, which is France's national stadium and has hosted many notable sporting events, including the 1998 FIFA World Cup final.
 * Nearly every character in the game refers to Saint Denis by its French pronunciation (sant-deh-nee). Arthur Morgan's pronunciation of the city due to his southern accent has become something of an internet meme.
 * The city was supposedly named as New Bordeaux but changed during the development of the game because the name was already used in another open-world game, Mafia III. The original name can be seen on the leaked 2016 map. The name change seems to have occurred rather late in development for the final release, however. As a campfire song that can be sung by the Van der Linde gang and heard in game will mention a town with the name "Bordeaux".
 * Saint Denis is also the home to the Supreme Court of Lemoyne, mirroring how the Supreme Court of Louisiana is actually located in New Orleans as opposed to the state capitol of Baton Rouge. The Supreme Court of Lemoyne building is located directly to the right of the Vaudeville Theatre on Frontier St.
 * The 1899 setting for the game means that it takes place roughly three years after the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson U.S. Supreme Court decision that affirmed the state supreme court and upheld the constitutionality of states' racial segregation ("separate but equal") laws. The case originally came about over disagreements on laws requiring separate racial accommodations on railroads, including railway cars, in New Orleans. The game is broadly accurate in reflecting both the interactivity and segregation that existed socially and economically among different ethnic and racial groups in the city at the time.
 * Both Arthur Morgan and John Marston display a high degree of disdain for Saint Denis, lamenting it as a "crowded, stuffed up city". Marston even openly states that he despises the city on several occasions. However, this does not affect the gameplay, and the player is free to travel and spend as much time in the city as they wish without any repercussions.
 * Players can't drive the trolleys in Saint Denis.
 * After finding five hidden messages written on walls scattered throughout the city, the journal will indicate the locations of the writing form a star-like shape. If the player chooses to explore the area in the middle of the star during 0:00 to 1:00, they can find the infamous vampire, Nosferatu.
 * The city features a gallows at a location known as Guiteau Square. The name is presumably a reference to Charles Guiteau, who was hanged in 1882 for the assassination of President James Garfield.