Paris Day Five: Sainte Chapelle

Right next door to the Conciergerie was the palace church, Sainte Chapelle. Built in less than 10 years and completed in 1248. Louis IX built it as part of the palace.

The chapel was a bit dark but the golds and dark blues gave it the feeling of a medieval palace chapel.

But it did seem a bit odd to have a gift store inside a church...

But there were beautiful works of art, stained glass windows and this statue of Louis' mother, Blanche de Castille. She ruled during Louis' childhood, during the 7th Crusade.

While it was beautiful, turns out we were in the basement where the commoners had services.

We walked up this narrow, steep staircase to the upper chapel. And I gasped when I stepped out...

It was absolutely breathtaking! It seemed as if there weren't any walls, only stained glass.

In fact there are fifteen 50-foot tall windows depicting 1,113 scenes from the Old Testament to when Louis brought his 30+ relics to Paris, including a fragment of the cross of Christ and Jesus' crown of thorns. And this glorious chapel was where they would be kept.

The chapel is surrounded by carvings of each of the 12 disciples.

The window directly behind the choir shows scenes from the Passion of the Christ.

The rose window is scenes from the Apocalypse.