Paris Top 30 Attractions - One-Two-Go Paris: The Quick Guide to Paris 2015 - page 143

Top 30 Attraction 13 Louis IX's Sainte-Chapelle MUST SEE!
The Sainte Chapelle is a gem of High Gothic architecture and was, together with the nearby
Conciergerie, the seat and residence of royal power from the 10 th to the 14 th century. The
Sainte Chapelle was built between 1242 and 1248 in accordance with the wishes of Louis
XI, the King from 1226 to 1270, to house the relics of the Passion of Christ. This stunning
chapel is considered among the highest achievements of Gothic architecture.
King Louis purchased the Passion relics from Baldwin II, the Latin emperor at Con-
stantinople, for the sum of 135,000 livres, though this money was actually paid to the Vene-
tians, to whom the relics had been pawned. The relics arrived in Paris in August 1239, car-
ried from Venice by two Dominican friars. For the final stage of their journey they were car-
ried by the King himself, barefoot and dressed as a penitent, a scene depicted in the Relics
of the Passion window on the south side of the chapel.
The Crown of Thorns is the most famous of those relics, and was acquired for a sum that
exceeded the cost of building the Chapel itself.