Saint ChapeLLe..

It's hard to back up and get a great view, because the chapel, formerly part of the palace, now within the precincts of the Police Department, is surrounded by buildings. A small courtyard lets you walk part way around it. It was finished in five years, as compared with most cathedrals which took 100 or more years. One reason for its rapid completion is probably that it was the royal chapel, so funding came from the king rather than from donations. King Louis IX (Saint Louis) had it built between 1243 and 1248 to house the Crown of Thorns, which he had bought in Venice in 1238. Sainte Chapelle was started and finished during the time Notre Dame was being built only a few blocks away. Both are on the Ile de la Cite -- the big island in the center of Paris where the city was born.

Hakan&Cansen