This is Sainte Chapelle, a church on the other side of the island from the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The Church itself is famous as being the fifth church that I've seen while in Paris, and the first one to charge admission. Because of the admission, I did not go inside. Apparently they have a really cool three-story-tall stained glass window in there which I'd really like to see. I'll get back in July. Sainte Chapelle has been literally surrounded by the walls and halls of the modern Parisian Palais de Justice so its a bit tough to see, and only the astute tourist even knows that it is there. King Louis the IX had the chapel built in 1246 as a house for some holy relics he had recently bought for 135,000 livres, including the original crown of thorns, and a chunk of wood from Christ's cross. The total cost of the building was 40,000 livres, so those were clearly some pricy dead plants. Any other French monarch would have just gone in and
stolen the stuff, but Louis was too nice, I guess. He was also famous for being the leader of a couple failed crusades to Jerusalem and Egypt, kicking every Jew out of France, and donating a lot of money to the poor. He died of dysentary in 1270 during his second crusade in Tunisia. Some of his guts were buried in Tunisia, some more were sealed in an urn and still remain in Sicily, and the rest of him was entombed in the Basilica of Saint Denis. Unfortunately, in the 1560s his body was taken during the French War of Religions and allegedly only one finger still remains there. Had I known that, I would have taken a picture! Such noble deeds as spending someone else's money, exiling Jews, having very mobile entrails, and ordering wars was certainly merit for Sainthood, which he received in 1297 and stands as the only French saint-king. By the way, there is a picture of King Saint Louis IX hanging in the chamber of the US House of Representatives. The relics of Sainte Chapelle were all taken during the Revolution, during which the church was used as an office, filing cabinets lining the stained glass windows.
This is Sainte Chapelle, a church on the other side of the island from the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The Church itself is famous as being the fifth church that I've seen while in Paris, and the first one to charge admission. Because of the admission, I did not go inside. Apparently they have a really cool three-story-tall stained glass window in there which I'd really like to see. I'll get back in July. Sainte Chapelle has been literally surrounded by the walls and halls of the modern Parisian Palais de Justice so its a bit tough to see, and only the astute tourist even knows that it is there. King Louis the IX had the chapel built in 1246 as a house for some holy relics he had recently bought for 135,000 livres, including the original crown of thorns, and a chunk of wood from Christ's cross. The total cost of the building was 40,000 livres, so those were clearly some pricy dead plants. Any other French monarch would have just gone in and 
stolen the stuff, but Louis was too nice, I guess. He was also famous for being the leader of a couple failed crusades to Jerusalem and Egypt, kicking every Jew out of France, and donating a lot of money to the poor. He died of dysentary in 1270 during his second crusade in Tunisia. Some of his guts were buried in Tunisia, some more were sealed in an urn and still remain in Sicily, and the rest of him was entombed in the Basilica of Saint Denis. Unfortunately, in the 1560s his body was taken during the French War of Religions and allegedly only one finger still remains there. Had I known that, I would have taken a picture! Such noble deeds as spending someone else's money, exiling Jews, having very mobile entrails, and ordering wars was certainly merit for Sainthood, which he received in 1297 and stands as the only French saint-king. By the way, there is a picture of King Saint Louis IX hanging in the chamber of the US House of Representatives. The relics of Sainte Chapelle were all taken during the Revolution, during which the church was used as an office, filing cabinets lining the stained glass windows.
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