Built in only 7 years in order to shelter the Christian relics, the Sainte Chapelle is constituted by 1113 stained-glass windows representing scenes of the Old and the New Testament, distributed in 15 windows of 15m of height. The acquisition of the relics sheltered within the Sainte Chapelle, allowed the already powerful French monarchy to raise itself at the head of the western Christianity and to amplify its powers and its influence.
Informations
The Sainte Chapelle, is a Palatine chapel built on the Ile de la Cité at the request of the king Saint-Louis to host the Crown of thorns, a piece of the Real Cross, as well as other diverse relics of the Passion which he had acquired from 1239. Although the construction was fast, no structural defects were found, and the decoration was not neglected. The decoration of Sainte Chapelle calls on different artistic techniques, especialy sculpture, painting and the art of stained-glass window making : the immense original stained-glass windows now makes the fame of the Sainte-chapelle, because it was deprived from her relics in the French Revolution, and by that, lost its main reason for being.
Duration 1.30h
Meet your guide outside the Metro Station Cité (L4)
Discover the Saint Chapelle from the outside, and then you will explore both levels of this Saint Chapelle: the lower chapel and its walls marked with the royal seal and the upper chapel and its gigantic stained-glass windows covered with religious messages.
Meeting Point
Photos
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