Saint-Chapelle

Our final day in France started with a visit to a little park near our hotel. The Park has a special past with a small chapel in it. Chapelle Expiatoire was the original burial ground for those beheaded during the French revolution, it was the remote burial ground for St. Denitz Church outside of the city of Paris in those days. King Luis XV, his wife, Marie Antionette, and other loyalists were buried here for 21 years. The graves were relocated 21 years later. There were calls to destroy the chapel after the revolution, but the site was fortmally saved in 1800 when it was protected by the state. The site is relatively unknown to tourists but is still in favor with French monarchists to this day.

That afternoon we visited Saint-Chapelle, built by Luis VIII to house several very expensive religious relics he spent a fortune getting, The church has a painted lower room for royal servants and a glorious stained glass upper church for the King, Queen and the court. Too small to require flying buttresses, the church used similar technology to create walls that were mostly glass. The walls depict the full bible, ending with Revolations and a history of the world from the birth of Christ to King Luis XIII. You have to exit the upper church through narrow, steep and steep steps used by guards as the front doors were accessible only to the Palace.