Sainte-Chapelle

The Chapel was conceived by Louis IX as a place to house the sacred relics brought back by the Crusaders from the plundered Constantinople during the Crusade. Among these was the "Crown of Thorns, drenched with the blood of Christ", possession of which was meant to strengthen the influence of the French kingdom in the Christian world. In 1239, Louis acquired the crown, reportedly for the vast sum of 135,000 livres from Latin Emperor Baldwin II. More precisely, Baldwin II had pawned the Crown of Thorns to the Venetians, from whom it was then redeemed by Saint Louis. In August 1239, the Crown of Thorns arrived in Paris, followed later by fragments of the True Cross, the Spear of Longinus, and other objects witnessing the Old and New Testaments.

For relics of such significance, an appropriate architectural frame was required, and on the site of the old royal chapel of Saint Nicholas, a new church was erected. It was built in a remarkably short period, from 1242 to 1248, presumably under the guidance of Pierre de Montreuil, one of the greatest architects of Gothic. The Holy Chapel at the Saint-Germain castle, which temporarily housed the relics until the consecration of Sainte-Chapelle, was taken as a model. The entire chapel cost 40,000 livres to build, while Louis spent 100,000 livres on a silver chest to store the relics. The chapel was consecrated in 1248, and Louis's relics were moved to their new home with great ceremony. The chapel no longer has a cemetery but in 1704, the composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier was buried there.

Throughout its centuries-long history, the church has been subjected to natural disasters and restorations. During the 15th century works, the chapel's spire and the circular stained glass on the western side were replaced. The palace suffered severely from fires in 1630 and 1776, particularly the furnishings. Moreover, a flood in the winter of 1689-1690 severely damaged the frescoed walls of the lower chapel. The original stained glass on the ground floor was removed, and the floor level was raised.

As a symbol of royal power and religion, the chapel suffered greatly during the French Revolution. Furniture and relics were plundered, tympanums shattered, and the spire broken. Organs were transferred to the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. Most statues were saved by the French archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir and are now housed in the building of Sainte-Chapelle. Some reliquaries, such as the Grande Châsse, were melted down for their precious metals. As a result of the looting, some sacred relics were lost, but those that survived are kept in the Paris National Library, and the Crown of Thorns is preserved in the Notre-Dame Cathedral.

The upper chapel of a palace in France was transformed into an archive for the Palace of Justice in the early 19th century. To facilitate working light, the lower two meters of stained glass was removed, and some of the glass was used to repair broken windows, while others were sold. In 1835, there was a growing demand to preserve and restore the church to its original medieval state, and a long campaign of restoration began in 1840 under King Louis-Philippe. The restoration work was carried out by skilled craftsmen and designers over a period of twenty-eight years and remained faithful to the original drawings and descriptions of the chapel.

During World War II, the stained glass was removed and safely stored, and in 1945, a layer of external varnish was applied to protect it from the dust and scratches of wartime bombing. However, the varnish darkened over time, making it difficult to see the already fading images. In 2008, a comprehensive seven-year restoration program began, costing around €10 million.

According to the architects' design, the chapel resembles a casket intended for storing religious relics - a reliquary, which it essentially became. It is topped with an elegant spire that soars up to 75 meters, and around the perimeter of the roof are placed malevolent chimeras, reminiscent of those that look down from the heights of Notre-Dame de Paris. The actual size of the chapel doesn't overwhelm the imagination (35 meters long, 11 meters wide), but the architectural solutions and tricks allow it to be perceived as large and, at the same time, transparent, almost weightless. Many of its elements resemble rich embroidery.

The exterior of the chapel showcases the typical features of Rayonnant architecture, including deep buttresses with pinnacles, crocketted gables, and large windows divided by bar tracery. The lower chapel is marked by smaller windows with a distinctive spherical triangle shape, separated from the upper chapel by a string-course. The exterior appears simple and austere, lacking flying buttresses or major sculpture.

The western facade features a two-story porch with a flamboyant Gothic rose window installed in the upper chapel during the 15th century. The top of the porch is adorned with a pointed arch, an oculus window, and a balustrade decorated with interlaced fleur-de-lys emblems, which were placed there by Charles V of France. The porch is flanked by towers that house narrow winding stairways to the upper chapel and conceal the buttresses. The spires of the towers are also embellished with royal fleur-de-lys and a sculpted crown of thorns dating back to the 15th century, which were restored in approximately 1850 by Geoffroy-Dechaume.

Sainte-Chapelle has had five spires since the 13th century, with the current one standing at a height of thirty-three meters. The current spire was built from cedarwood in 1852 by architect Lassus, and its decorative sculpture was created by Geoffroy-Dechaume in 1853. At the base of the spire is a sculpture designed by the artist-designer Steinheim, featuring images of apostles. Above the pediments, there are statues of angels carrying instruments of the Passion, and at the top of the spire is a statue of Archangel Michael slaying the dragon. Eight sculptures, made by workers involved in the reconstruction, according to Geoffroy-Dechaume's design, are located at the feet of the archangel and depict people laying wreaths.

The chapel consists of two tiers: originally, the upper tier was intended for the king's own prayers, while the lower was for the courtiers.

The decor of Sainte-Chapelle astonishes with its elegance and richness. On the first floor of this Parisian chapel, one can see a vault painted with frescoes, seven meters high. The walls of the first tier are adorned with heraldic fleurs-de-lis. The windows here are small, but they are decorated with stained glass depicting the life of the Virgin Mary. This mosaic was made in the 19th century and replaced the ordinary glass that was inserted in the 12th century after a flood. The color scheme of this tier is dominated by gold, red, and blue. Decorative arches in the shape of a trefoil run along all the walls; twelve medallions depict the apostles.

Ascending to the second tier, one can feel almost in mid-air. It seems there are no walls, but this is only an illusion; the entire floor is comprised of huge stained-glass windows, so the room is thoroughly penetrated by light. The total area of the stained glass is 600 sq m, and two-thirds of it is the original 13th-century stained glass art. The stained glass predominantly features red and blue, distinguishing them from the more recent 15th-century round stained glass on the western side of the chapel.

Despite some damage over the years, the windows maintain a clear iconographical program. The three windows in the eastern apse illustrate scenes from the New Testament, while the nave windows focus on examples of ideal kingship and queenship from the Old Testament, in homage to the chapel's royal patrons. The cycle begins with scenes from the Book of Genesis and follows in a clockwise direction with scenes from Exodus, Joseph, Numbers/Leviticus, Joshua/Deuteronomy, Judges, Jeremiah/Tobias, Judith/Job, Esther, David, and the Book of Kings. The final window depicts the rediscovery of Christ's relics, the miracles they performed, and their relocation to Paris, all under the patronage of King Louis himself, bringing the narrative of sacral kingship up to date.

The two tiers of the Sainte-Chapelle are connected by a narrow staircase, created during the construction of the chapel.

The supports dividing and holding up the stained glass are very interesting: each is "composed" of nine slender, elegant columns. There are 12 statues of apostles installed in the wall niches; some of them are originals considered masterpieces of Gothic sculpture. The original grandeur of their painting and lost sculptures were recreated during restoration work.

Throughout the second tier, there is a high plinth, and the arcades decorating it are made of marble so skillfully that they appear lace-like. The arcades are interrupted by large niches, two of which were once intended for royal persons. The amount of large and small architectural and decorative elements in this part of the chapel is simply astonishing, making it beautiful and majestic.

The chapel is open to tourists daily, except on public holidays. However, visitors must remove all metallic objects beforehand. Entrance to the chapel is strictly controlled by gendarmes.

In the evenings, Sainte-Chapelle hosts classical music concerts featuring renowned musicians. The concert schedule is posted near the main entrance.

The relics that were once kept in the royal chapel have been housed in the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral for over two hundred years. They can be venerated on specific days, according to the Catholic liturgical calendar.