St. James Chapel

This Neo-Gothic treasure just off the Magnificent Mile was modeled after the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Its 40-foot-high stained glass windows, created by Robert Giles of the John Kinsella Company, have been called "the crown jewels of Chicago's architectural treasures." Each window contains 20,000 to 45,000 pieces of antique English stained glass that together illustrate the Old Testament, the New Testament and church history. Saint James Chapel is nestled inside the busy administrative headquarters of the Archdiocese of Chicago in an adaptively-reused pre-seminary high school building. It's a calm oasis offering frequent musical programs.