Paris in Review: Sainte-Chapelle

Well this seems redundant, but I guess this will be for those too lazy to rummage through the images themselves or those who like the sound of my sweet written narration. Anyway, onward.
One of my favorite places was Sainte-Chapelle. Here is a Wikipedia brief to prepare you for my comments after the break.


"The Sainte-Chapelle, the palatine chapel in the courtyard of the royal palace on the Île de la Cité, was built to house precious relics: Christ's crown of thorns, theImage of Edessa and thirty other relics of Christ that had been in the possession of Louis IX since August 1239, when it arrived from Venice in the hands of two Dominican friars. Unlike many devout aristocrats who stole relics, the saintly Louis bought his precious relics of the Passion, purchased from the Latin emperor at Constantinople, Baldwin II, for the exorbitant sum of 135,000 livres, which was paid to the Venetians, to whom it had been pawned. The entire chapel, by contrast, cost 40,000 livres to build and until it was complete the relics were housed at chapels at the Château de Vincennes and a specially-built chapel at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In 1241, a piece of the True Cross was added, and other relics. Thus the building in Paris, consecrated 26 April 1248, was like a precious reliquary: even the stonework was painted, with medallions of saints and martyrs in the quatrefoils of the dado arcade, which was hung with rich textiles"




What really appeals to me about Sainte-Chapelle is the stacking of the two chapels. The lower one is impressive for sure, but the way it sets you up for the upper chapel is just incredible. Originally,  it wasn't intended to be experienced this way, as the royals will enter the upper chapel from the upper floors. However, the fact that it is now experienced this way adds a entirely new dynamic to the experience.

Up these stairs

And through these doors

The high vaulted space that we are eventually treated to immediately changes the mood. The contrast of spaces, gives a greatly enhanced effect to the upper space. The feeling is impossible to capture through photographs, but its some subsistence to serve as a suggestion to imagine, or to enhance a memory, of this incredible place.