If “breathtaking” were a building, it could very well be the Sainte-Chapelle (“Holy Chapel”) in Paris, the spectacular royal chapel adjoined to King Louis IX’s palace. The chapel was commissioned between 1242 and 1248 to house the Passion relics, including Christ’s Crown of Thorns, which King Louis IX purchased in 1239.
The chapel is a perfect example of Rayonnant Gothic (circa 1240–1350) architecture. It was a style that aimed for structural lightness, where windows almost replaced the walls and flooded the buildings with light, and which favored a repetition of decorative motifs in varying sizes.
