Like the inside of a Faberge Egg…
Paris’ perfect Sainte-Chapelle is a gem that needs to be on your Must-See list.
Sainte Chapelle - Michael Adair
Sainte Chapelle
A stone’s throw away from the now temporarily out of service Notre Dame sits a hidden gem tucked away in the courtyard of the former Capetian Royal Palace on the Île de la Cité. In this case gem is not used as metaphorically, but rather is a true description of a chapel so beautiful that it takes your breath away. Sainte Chappelle is considered among the highest achievements of Gothic architecture and with its enormous glass-stained windows held together with alarmingly thin stone arches it’s not difficult to see why. 15 windows, each 15 metres high, containing over 1000 biblical scenes throw their multicolored light onto the floor creating a sort of holy kaleidoscope. Think of it as Kinder Surprise with all the fun waiting for you on the inside as you pass the rather unassuming and plain outside.
A game of Holy relic hot potato
It was built to house the crown of thorns and other crucifixion relics owned by Louis IX with the main event being a complete crown of thorns encased in glass and covered in golden vines. The crown was bought by King Louis IX from the Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople in 1249. Just 11 years earlier Baldwin pawned the crown to the Venetians for credit, then seemingly sorted out his financial troubles to get the crown back only to offload it again in a game of holy relic hot potato.
The crown of thorns was housed in the chapel until the French Revolution, then after a short stay at the Bibliothèque Nationale it was given back to the church in 1801 and was housed in Notre Dame until the fire in 2019 and is now kept in a safe deep within the Louvre.
It is important to point out that there are over 700 fragments, portions and thorns of the crown of strewn across the globe from Paris to Pittsburg, so I would argue it must have been more of a bush than a crown, but relics do have a magical way of multiplying over the years. The best example of this would be Jesus’ 12-18 foreskins (also called the Holy Prepuce) or as John Calvin is to have said that there was enough wood from the cross to fill a ship.
“…In brief, if all the pieces (of the cross) that could be found were collected together, they would make a big ship-load. Yet the Gospel testifies that a single man was able to carry it.“
But this is another topic for another day.
Even the most jaded traveler is guaranteed a jaw-drop. I promise.
The chapel is in two parts. The royal chapel, which could be accessed privately by the king from the Palace perhaps in competition with Emperor Baldwin II who could do the same from his palace to Hagia Sofia, and the lower chapel, which served as church for the help. A classic case of upstairs/downstairs mixed with keeping up with the Jones’. We, as common folk, start in the lower chapel then use a tiny spiral staircase to access the Royal Chapel.
Once upstairs your jaw will drop. Even if you are the cold and jaded over-travelled type, your jaw will drop. The interior is dominated by stained glass and every inch of the little stone that remains is also painted and decorated. You have to, however, imagine the paint to be much brighter than it is now, those 19th century restorers where a little more cautious with their color wheel than the Gothic builders were.
As it did to most of Paris the French Revolution did quite the number on the chapel. Some relics were dispersed and other items were destroyed. The silver grande châsse or the enormous bedazzled silver box which held the relics was melted down. This box cost 2.5 times the amount that the entire chapel cost to build, so it really must have been quite the thing to behold.
In 1803 it was turned into archival depository and they removed and destroyed the first two meters of stained glass to allow you to read the books in plain light. Even after this destruction it still has one of the biggest 13th-century stained glass collections in the world. In 1855 it was faithfully restored to the original drawings and subsequent restorations culminated in the final renovation finished in 2015 ready for the 800th Birthday of King Louis IX who by this time was now a Saint. I would say it was 10 million euros well spent.
This chapel should be moved right to the top of your To-Do list in Paris, also do yourself the favor and slide theL'Arc de Triomphe right off that list. The chapel is small and can hold only a limited amount of people at a time, so the line forms fairly quickly outside. It is best to go first thing in the morning. The chapel is small, so you can have your fabulous Instagram brunch AFTER the visit. Buy your tickets online to skip the line and if you forget to buy your tickets online, have no fear, just walk 50m down the street to the Conciergerie where you can buy a combi-ticket for both places. Then just go back to Saint-Chappelle and skip the line, its magic!