Sainte-Chapelle

Sainte-Chapelle is the most dazzling secret in Paris, a royal chapel hidden inside the courtyard of the old Palais de la Cite on the Ile de la Cite. Commissioned by King Louis IX, later Saint Louis, and consecrated in 1248, it was built in record time to house the king's most precious treasures, the relics of the Passion including what was believed to be the Crown of Thorns. Few buildings on earth deliver such a sudden change of mood. From a sober lower chapel you climb a tight spiral stair and step into a space that seems to be made entirely of coloured light.

The upper chapel is the reason to come. Fifteen towering stained glass windows, each more than fifteen metres high, wrap the room in 1,113 scenes that tell the biblical story from Genesis to the Resurrection. Roughly two thirds of the glass is original medieval work, which is extraordinarily rare, and on a bright day the effect is overwhelming, a jewel box flooded with red and blue. The slender stone columns almost disappear, leaving the impression of walls dissolved into glass. It is widely considered the finest surviving example of Rayonnant Gothic architecture in France.

The chapel is small and entry is timed, so booking a skip the line slot online is the difference between five minutes and a long wait outside, made longer by the airport style security shared with the neighbouring law courts. Combined tickets with the nearby Conciergerie are excellent value since the two sites sit metres apart.

The best time to visit is late morning to early afternoon on a sunny day, when the southern windows blaze at their brightest. If you love music, evening classical concerts are sometimes held inside, a memorable way to see the glass lit differently. To get there take Metro line 4 to Cite, the only station on the island, or walk over from Notre Dame and the Latin Quarter, both just minutes away.