Sainte Chapelle

Architecture

The construction and treasures of the Sainte Chapelle

Built at the request of Saint Louis to house the relics of the Passion of Christ, the Sainte-Chapelle is particularly distinguished by its marvelous stained glass windows.

Like all Gothic buildings of this size, the Sainte Chapelle was built to let in light (while sublimating it), and to build as high as possible to get closer to the heavens. It was built on two levels, the lower chapel, dedicated to the palace servants and officers, and the upper chapel, larger and richer in stained glass, dedicated to the king and his family. These windows are supposed to represent several scenes from the Bible, from the creation of Adam and Eve to the Apocalypse. The Sainte Chapelle housed no less than 22 relics that Saint-Louis had managed to obtain (some of them for a price that exceeded the cost of building the chapel). Today, only 3 remain: a fragment of the cross, a nail, and the crown of thorns, all 3 of which had been kept in the treasury of Notre-Dame and were fortunately saved from the fire

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The Lower Chapel

Slightly high and dimly lit for a religious domain, the lower chapel looks like a crypt, two colonnades, responsible for supporting the upper chapel

Because of the damage it has suffered, the lower chapel and its current decor are largely a reconstruction of the 13th century, carried out without ancient sources and therefore probably different from what could be seen originally, but given its intended use for servants and the little light that could be let inside, we suspect that it was mainly designed to serve as a support for the high chapel, but currently the various renovations and embellishment work have made it more dazzling than ever.

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The Upper Chapel

Unlike the lower chapel, the upper chapel is not only larger, but also more light, more work, and currently quite faithful to the origin

The light enters much more easily thanks to the addition of many stained glass windows, about 15 glass roofs surrounding the room by 15 meters each, i.e. more than 1100 glass panels of all colors, bathe the place in their colored lights. glasses, and tells the beginning of the Bible in pictures. It was there that the relics were kept, and that the royal family prayed when they lived in the Palace of the city, which became the Palace of Justice.

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The rose window, a perfect example of the beauty of the chapel

The rose window is in the Flamboyant Gothic style, a name that comes from the flame effects used for the stained glass windows. It does not date from the 13th century like the windows, but from the 15th century. It has 87 petals. Restored in 2014, it is a piece mistress of the story that these stained glass windows tell us, and embellishes the entire western facade when the sun shines on this side of the building

History

The Acquisition of the Relics

From 1239, the very believer Louis IX, known as Saint Louis, began to acquire the Holy Relics of Christ. He initially acquired the Holy Crown at the price of gold:

Many relics have been redeemed in the same way as the crown such as a piece of the cross, one of the nails etc., once added to those recovered during the crusades and other wars, they constitute a unique treasure in the world and worth more than anything for a man of faith. These acquisitions make it possible to increase the prestige of France and of Paris which becomes a capital of Christianity. It is only in order to store them and to venerate them that the Saint Chapel was built.

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The construction of the Sainte Chapelle

Built from 1241 to 1248, its construction cost 40,000 pounds tournaments, an already substantial sum but which remains very little compared to the price of the relics

It is designed like any other Gothic building, but is intended for a different use from the classical chapel, it is not a place of pilgrimage or a sanctuary for all Christians, it is a place for family use, intended to show the power of the royalty and their devotion to the Christian religion, so access to it is restricted, and this was taken into account during the construction, with less access to the outside and a space for partitioning.

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The Trials of the Sainte Chapelle

The Holy Chapel will have suffered several hard blows during the centuries that followed its construction.

Innodation of the lower chapel, desecration and fire. The chapel has suffered a lot of outrage over time. For example, a night fire broke out on March 6-7, 1618 at the Palace and overflowed into the Sainte Chapelle. During the Revolution French, the new government wanted to destroy everything that had a link with the previous power, the monarchy and the old regime, faith and royalty being the two pillars of the previous system, the Sainte Chapelle was obviously targeted, desacralized in depth, serving as an attic for the sans-cullotte, this was its least brilliant period, several relics were lost during these years of decrepitude

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The impact of the Sainte Chapelle

The Sainte Chapelle in Paris served as a model for almost all the other holy chapels present in France, which also served as places of worship for kings, princes, and members of royalty.

They also served as places of worship for kings, princes, and royalty. And had an important role for the monarchy and the power of the time, hence the desacralization that she and others suffered. However, its historical importance could not be ignored, which is why in the 1830s, at a time when many restoration works had been undertaken, in order to restore the monuments of the Middle Ages, that archaeologists and historians have taken an interest in the Sainte Chapelle, trying to find information in writings and to draw inspiration from other chapels to renovate the building and bring it back to its former splendor. that the work began, they lasted almost 30 years, with a result similar to what we can find today

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