Sainte-Chapelle

Sainte-Chapelle was built on the orders of Louis IX (Saint Louis) between 1242 and 1248 to house relics of the Passion he had acquired from Baldwin II of Constantinople, including the Crown of Thorns, at a cost that reportedly exceeded that of the chapel itself. Constructed within the Palais de la Cité, it stands as one of the most complete surviving examples of Rayonnant Gothic architecture, distinguished by an engineering feat rare for its date: the upper chapel's walls are almost entirely replaced by fifteen stained-glass windows rising over 15 meters, held by a slender iron and stone frame rather than heavy masonry. The glass depicts more than 1,100 scenes from the Old and New Testaments, culminating in a rose window added in the 1480s under Charles VIII that illustrates the Apocalypse. The lower chapel, more modestly decorated, served the palace's servants and guards, while the upper chapel was reserved for the king and canons. The relics themselves were removed during the Revolution and later transferred to the treasury of Notre-Dame de Paris, rescued in the 2019 fire and now held at the Louvre pending Notre-Dame's full restoration. Sainte-Chapelle suffered significant damage after the Revolution, when it was used as an archive and its spire and much of its furnishing were dismantled; a major restoration led by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste Lassus between 1840 and 1867 rebuilt the spire and restored around two-thirds of the original glass, replacing the rest with careful period-style reproductions. It was classified a monument historique in 1862 and remains part of the Palais de Justice complex on Île de la Cité. Visitors pass through security screening shared with the law courts before entering the chapel, then climb a narrow spiral staircase to the upper level.