I had ONE thing on my Paris to-do list when we walked into The City of Light with almost no plan: to bask in the stained glass light of Sainte Chapelle. Ever heard of it? If you haven’t, you’ve maybe seen it in TV shows and movies or know it as the original home of the Crown of Thorns in Paris. If it’s completely unfamiliar to you…welll…indulge me.
The High Gothic chapel (think light, spindly, and upwards) was constructed in the 13th century (that’s the 1200s) by Louis IX (Saint Louis) to house the Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the True Cross, and other Christian relics. What I can’t believe is that they built this intricate masterpiece in only SEVEN years! Considering Notre Dame took almost 200 years, this is mind-blowing to me. Granted, Notre Dame is enormous, and Sainte Chapelle is quite small in comparison, but the intricate details – how was it only seven years!?
During the Middle Ages, having a collection of Christian relics was a way to bring prestige and pilgrims (aka tourists) to your chapel, cathedral, or city. Pilgrims = money = pretty things. In other words, relics were big business; I mean, have you seen or read Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett? I’m not exaggerating. Louis IX collected 22 relics and housed them at Sainte Chapelle upon its completion. This put Paris at the forefront of Western Christianity and Paris quickly became a “new Jerusalem” gathering pilgrims from across the world, filing into Saint Chapelle, and allowing Louis to pay off the debt he had acquired by collecting these relics and build pretty things. Most of these relics disappeared during the Revolution, but the Crown of Thorns is now part of the treasury of Notre Dame Cathedral (and, thankfully, was saved during the fire in April 2019).
While the relics have disappeared over the years, the architectural wonder that is this Chapel remains. Though Sainte Chapelle has not been used for worship since the Revolution, it has been open to admirers. And admire it we did!
The windows create a vibrant rainbow of light inside, capped by a painted starry night sky. Don’t be distracted by the arcs of colored light flowing all around you: the real treasure is in the stories depicted within those vibrant panes of glass. The intricately carved stone walls hold immense walls of stained glass telling the story of the world from the Old and New Testaments in 1113 scenes. The Apocalypse is documented in the rose window above the entrance of the chapel in just as many colors. It is truly breathtaking. From the moment we entered the chapel, I’m sure my jaw was on the ground until Jason pulled me out. I could have stayed all day and come back the next. So many colors, so much detail, so much light – a wonder.
The breathtaking chapel is actually the top floor of this monument. Below is another chapel that has a much heavier feel, more like a basement. In fact, this chapel is also ringed in stained glass, though it’s a bit less awe-inspiring than its upstairs neighbor. This chapel was used by the staff of the nearby Palais de la Cité, and its walls and pillars support the heavy lead and glass above, leading to its heavy, basement block feel. Today it houses a collection of artifacts and the museum’s gift shop.
Speaking of today, if you are planning to tour the chapel (of course you are, right?), I highly recommend purchasing your tickets online ahead of time, right here. It is possible to…stand in line all day hoping to get in after all the ticket holders…but we don’t recommend that. Once you have secured your ticket and time, we also recommend taking up your place in the ticket holders line for your designated time only 15 minutes or so before your scheduled time. They don’t let anyone in early, and rarely let anyone in late, so make sure you are in your line when they open the barrier to let your time slot in. No matter how long the line is, if you have a ticket, you’ll get in. We came an hour early and stood at the front of our 1 p.m. scheduled ticket line and made friends with the lady running the barricade, but there was no way she was letting us in early. So much for friendship, amiright? We know the rules of the line very well now.
I highly recommend visiting Sainte Chapelle on your trip to Paris. It’s a quick visit, especially if you can’t get ahold of one of the cards explaining all of the windows to read (there are nowhere near enough, I managed to snag one in Spanish and stumbled through – you’ll never get one in English). Maybe check this link out before you go, or bring it with you to explain each window while you’re there. Or if that’s not your jam and you just like pretty things with no context, you hopefully have a little context now (knowledge is good). If nothing else, you can go walk through a rainbow, and who doesn’t like that idea? It’s a true masterpiece.
