Dad-Daughter European Trip: Paris | The Spectacular Sainte-Chapelle

Continuing with my series of photographs (finally!) from the most epic European dad-daughter trip of (probably?) our lifetime –
29 days from December 2023 to January 2024 via planes, trains, and automobiles

In this post, we remain in Paris and pay a visit to the Sainte-Chapelle, a cathedral of glass like none other.

Dad-Daughter Trip 2023/24: The Sainte-Chapelle

The Sainte-Chapelle, also known as the royal chapel of the Île de la Cité, was built in the middle of the 13th century by King Louis IX to house several prestigious relics of the Passion of Christ: the Crown of Thorns, the iron spear of Longinus (the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Christ while on the cross), and a fragment of the True Cross.
 
King Louis IX acquired these sacred relics from Baldwin II of Courtenay (1217 – 1273), the last Latin Emperor of Constantinople (the Greco-Roman name for the present-day city of Istanbul). The relics arrived in Paris in August 1239, carried from Venice by two Dominican friars.
 
With the acquisition of these important religious relics, Paris became, in the eyes of medieval Europe, a “new Jerusalem”, and thus the beacon of Western Christianity. Louis IX, who reigned for over 43 years, from 1226 until his death, was considered a saint during his lifetime and was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1297.
 

The lower chapel is notable for the lack of lighting, lending it an almost mystical quality. The lack of light is due to its unusually small windows and lower ceilings.

Built in less than 7 years, a record time, the Sainte-Chapelle consists of an upper level, which the relics of the Passion of Christ are exalted and reserved for the king and his distinguished guests, and a lower chapel serving the palace staff. It supports the upper (or superior) chapel.
 

 
The roof, supported by countless columns, bears the weight of the entire building; the lower chapel was built for its functional and architectural utility, as it allowed the construction of the upper chapel to be lightened to the maximum and to bear its entire weight.
 

 
The upper chapel (the main reason one would have to visit Sainte Chapelle) features over 7000 square feet of stained glass windows that envelop you in an extraordinary and intense light. The exceptional set of stained glass windows constitute the most complete example of 13th century stained glass art. A remarkable two-thirds of the windows are original.
 

 
Divided into 15 stained glass bays of 15m height, the 1113 stained glass panels of the windows relate scenes of the Old and New Testament and tell the history of the world, according to the Bible, until the arrival of the relics in Paris in the 13th century.
 

 
When you turn towards the West in the upper chapel, you are immediately seized by the “rose de l’Apocalypse”. Its 9 meter width features a complex bundle of stone in the shape of “flames” – characteristic of the flamboyant gothic style of the 15th century.
 

 
The current rose is dedicated to the Apocalypse, it was rebuilt under the reign of Charles VIII around 1485. This rose is exceptionally well preserved, among the 87 panels that constitute it only 9 were restored in the 19th century.
 

 
Finally, you notice the presence of 12 statues, positioned against the pillars that support the vaults, these are the apostles, the “pillars” of the Church. Each character holds a disc marked with a cross: these crosses recall the consecration of the chapel.
 

 
Barefoot for some, like God or Christ, a mark of divinity in the iconographic tradition of the 13th century, others have their feet covered by their overabundant drapery. They are examples of the “classical” Gothic style that flourished at the time of Saint Louis.
 

 
Later generations, however, did not share Louis’s extreme religious fervor and, gradually, the upper chamber fell into disuse. It was sacked during the French Revolution in 1789, after which it was used as a storehouse for grain. The crown of thorns, however, was preserved and joined the treasury of Notre-Dame Cathedral in 1806.
 

 
In the 1830s, public pressure, supported by scholars and writers including Victor Hugo, led to a program of renovation beginning in 1840. The spire, which had been removed during the Revolution, was rebuilt to a new design. A painstaking restoration of the stained-glass windows was begun in 2008 and completed in 2015.
 

 
Today, the chapel is open to tours and is mainly used for concerts of classical music. And although the reliquary function of the monument has disappeared, the monument still shines today as one of the most extraordinary masterpieces of the High Gothic style and features one of the most extensive 13th-century stained glass collections anywhere in the world.
 

 
Nobody knows precisely who the master builder of the Sainte-Chapelle was, but some texts have mentioned the name of Pierre de Montreuil, one of the first named architects of 13th-century Paris. What most people who have visited the Sainte-Chappelle would unreservedly agree on is that this gothic cathedral of glass is a must-see attraction in Paris. It truly is spectacular.
 

 
Tickets to enter the chapel runs €13 (18+) and I strongly encourage you to book your tickets online a few days (weeks!) in advance to avoid the long admission lines. Reserving your ticket ahead of time means you can join the shorter line that matches your entry time (10 am or 2:30 pm, for example). We were there in early December, still low season for Paris, with pre-purchased tickets and still had to wait about 45 mins outside before our time slot was called in. Could only imagine what the line looks like in the summer(!)
 

Stay tuned for more images from our time in Paris, featuring a visit to the Musée National d’Art Moderne inside the Centre Pompidou and a look inside the Musée du Louvre.
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All photographs taken by the Sony A7RV using the FE 16-35mm f/2.8 lens, and the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, a remarkable camera phone that features a variable aperture 1-inch main camera and Leica co-engineered Summicron lens.