Paris has plenty of museums, monuments, and landmarks to discover - more than once, if you can't get enough. But two of our favorite places are Notre-Dame Cathedral and Sainte-Chapelle.
Situated right opposite each other on the Île de la Cité, almost like they were meant to be rivals, only a stone’s throw from each other. We decided to look at both and pull out their most exquisite features, to see which one we prefer:
Notre Dame
- The cathedral dates back to the 14th century, and its Great Organ dates back to the 13th century.
- Notre-Dame Cathedral is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in the whole of Paris. Its size is another of its impressive features; it measures over 11.5 double-decker buses in length.
- It also has two towers which can be climbed (up 387 steps!) where you can get sweeping views over the city.
- The Great Organ has five keyboards, 190 tiles, and 8,000 pipes and is one of the most famous organs in the world.
- Notre-Dame has 10 ringing bells, all with names, like Emmanuel, Marie, Gabriel, and Étienne. It was Emmanuel who was rung to announce the city was on its way to liberation in 1944.
- The gargoyles and chimera are some of the most iconic decorations on Notre-Dame and were originally used as irrigation
- It has recently reopened to the public after being restored to its former glory, literally rising from the ashes of the catastrophic 2019 fire.
Sainte-Chapelle
- The great church dates back to the 13th century, during the reign of Louis IX.
- This royal medieval gothic chapel is considered one of the best achievements of the Rayonnant period.
- Sainte-Chapelle is home to one of the most extensive collections of 13th-century stained glass windows in the world.
- Nearly two-thirds of the 15 windows are authentic stained glass windows from the first construction.
- It was commissioned by Louis IX to house his collections of Passion Relics – which included Christ’s Crown of Thorns.
- The lower chapel has low vaulted ceilings painted to resemble a starry sky.
We're torn! We love them both!
Both have impressive qualities and are stand-out landmarks in Paris. You can't beat Notre-Dame's gargoyles, nor its bells. Likewise, we love Sainte-Chapelle's kaleidoscopic colors and stained glass windows - they're some of the oldest in the world.
You got us, we think they're both worth a visit - and when you can enter both for free with The Paris Pass, you don't even have to choose!
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