I am Sainte-Chapelle

I am a cathedral of glass like no other. Ethereal and magical, Sainte-Chapelle has been hailed as one of the greatest architectural masterpieces of the Western world. I was speedily built in six years between 1242 and 1248 for King Louis IX (the only French king who is now a saint) to house the ‘Crown of Thorns’ that he had bought for £135,000. For all that, he paid just £40,000 to build me.

My exterior is functional. My muscular buttresses hold up my stone roof so that my walls are not weight bearing and are essentially there to display stained glass.

My architectural harmony is due to the fact that I was completed under the direction of a single architect and in only six years. (Recall that Notre Dame took over 200 years to build.) My lacy Neo-Gothic spire was added in the 19th century. My inside was classic ancien regime: staff and common folk worshipped downstairs (under a royal Fleur-de-lis ceiling); royal Christians worshipped upstairs surrounded by 15 magnificent separate panels of stained glass.

The Bible says, ‘Let there be light’. In Sainte-Chapelle, divine light shines through stained glass like God’s grace shining on the worshippers. The Gothic architect used the technology to turn dark stone buildings into lanterns of light. And it shines here brighter than in any other church.

There are 15 magnificent panels (600 square metres – two thirds of it 13th century original glass) with more than 1,100 different scenes, mostly from the Bible. These cover the entire Christian history of the world, from Creation in Genesis, to the coming of Christ, to the end of the world.

Each individual scene is interesting and the whole is overwhelming.

Even the spans of the ceiling ribs are impressive.