Sainte Chapelle

If Notre Dame de Paris is the symbol of Paris and the most famous Church in France, the Sainte Chappelle is as worth a visit as Notre Dame. It's definitly among the highest achievements of the Rayonnant period of Gothic architecture and retains one of the most extensive in-situ collections of 13th century stained glass anywhere in the world.

This architectural treasure is well hidden behind the façade of the Justice Palace - La Conciergerie, and you can only guess about its existence by seeing the Pic of the Tower. The entrance is at the left of the main stairs of the Justice Palace (Palais de Justice), and once on this street you will easilly find the queue to get in. Free of charge guided tours with volunteer guides (usually history/architecture students) are proposed, and you can reward them with a tip if you enjoyed the visit. Hours of the tours will be given to you at the ticket box. You can buy a combined ticket for the Sainte Chappelle and the Conciergerie.

The Holy Chapel is one of the only surviving buildings of the Capetian royal palace on the Île de la Cité in the heart of Paris, the others being those of the Conciergerie. It was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion Relics, including the Crown of Thorns - one of the most important relics in medieval Christendom.
Its construction begun some time after 1239 and consecrated on the 26th of April 1248.

Although damaged during the French revolution after being transformed into a warehouse, it was heavily restored in the 19th century, with the preservation of its unique stain glass collection around the 15 meters high and super narrow columns. The sensation while looking at these glasses gives definitly one of the most beautiful Christian sacred sceneries.

The Holy Relics were kept in a beautiful reliquary with a sort of elevating mecanism, allowing the people to see the Relics the first Friday of each months and on Holy Friday. The King of France was the only person to have the key giving access to the Relics, which was kept around his neck and transferred to his heir after his death. After the assasination of King Louis XVI, the Relics were sent to the National Library, and than sent in 1804 to the Treasury of Notre Dame de Paris.

You won't regret this visit!

Open every day
1 March to 31 October : 9:30 am to 6 pm
1 November to 28 February : 9 am to 5 pm
Cashdesks close 30 minutes earlier
Open in the evening on Wednesdays
15 May to 15 September
last admission at 9 pm.

Closed
1 January, 1 May 1 and 25 December

Access to the Sainte-Chapelle is controlled by the gendarmerie, it is strictly forbidden for visitors to be in possession of any metal objects such as knives, scissors and any other pointed or sharp metal instrument.

For more information, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-ChapelleLess