Chartres is 96 km south-west of Paris. It has a splendid cathedral with a long history, but little else of interest to the weary tourist.
We could see the cathedral from our hotel window and I managed to get a blue-sky photo during the few hours of sunshine we had during our three day stay.
Walking up to the cathedral in the late afternoon, it was interesting to see this orderly queue of shoppers waiting patiently to purchase organic fruit and vegetables in the undercover market area, available three times per week from noon until 8pm. Next to the organic fruit and veg was the chap selling organic bread and organic "farm birds" - poultry of all kinds, from large turkeys to tiny quail and everything in between.
The fact that we visited the cathedral on two consecutive days at the end of a long holiday when we were pretty much " monumented-out" proves that it was very interesting.
The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de
Chartres is widely considered to be the finest Gothic cathedral in France. Its
historical and cultural importance is recognized by its inclusion on the UNESCO
list of World Heritage Sites. Its construction started in 1205, following the
destruction of the old cathedral by fire and building took only 66 years.
The Cathedral is one of the most visited tourist destinations in France. Malcolm Miller, whom you'll meet below, describes it as "a monument of religious art with many different aspects:
architecture that became a model for great Gothic cathedrals around the world, an exceptional
ensemble of stained-glass windows from the 12th and 13th centuries - the
largest amount in the world, and three outstanding sculpted portals where
“medieval thought becomes visible”.
The UNESCO World Heritage Listing -says "A masterpiece of human creative genius. Constructed
rather quickly and completed almost all at once, Chartres Cathedral, through
the unity of its architecture and decoration, contains the total and achieved
expression of one of the most unanimous aspects of the Christian Middle Ages
".
The newly cleaned sections stand out from the yet to be cleaned areas.
The city suffered heavy damage by bombing in the course of
World War II, but the Cathedral of Chartres was spared by the Americans despite rumours that it was occupied by the Germans. All of the stained glass windows were removed. After heavy fighting in and around the city, Chartres was liberated on 18
August 1944, by the US Army's General George Patton.
The cathedral is undergoing an extensive and expensive program of internal cleaning, restoration and painting - the first in three hundred years.
Cleaning of this column uncovered layers of red and green paint, applied more than 300 years ago, which have been stabilised and left visible. This is the first cathedral we have visited where the internal stone is painted although Malcolm Miller says that many medieval cathedrals were painted.
The bishop's chair.
An internal section showing an uncleaned area on the right.
The first step in cleaning is to vacuum dust off the surface of the stone. Each intricate area takes this chap quite a while.
The stained glass at Chartres is original from the 12thC and 13thC and the blue colouring is quite unique to this building.
The construction techniques of flying buttresses outside and these ceiling ribs and arches inside allow the building to stand without many supporting columns. So it appears to be very spacious inside. Only the upper sections have been cleaned and repainted here.
This huge 16thC statue adorns the altar. Malcolm Miller was rather scathing, saying it was inappropriate for a Gothic cathedral to have a non-gothic altarpiece, but it has been here for a long time. The cathedral had to be reinforced to take its weight.
A very modern lectern with golden representations of the four evangelists of the new testament - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Part of the huge labyrinth on the floor of the cathedral. On Fridays the seats are removed and pilgrims and others "walk the labyrinth". It had great significance in the Middle Ages and there was one tall chap with long grey hair, scarf and lots of corduroy clothing, who danced around it for more than an hour.
No, Paul it wasn't Tom Baker but he did look a bit familiar.
We admired the excellent condition of the cathedral's exterior while we waited for our tour of the crypt.
The crypts underneath the cathedral are extensive with lots of little chapels and a whole other church that is even older than the cathedral itself.
Here is the supporting column that was added in the 16thC to support the new alter statue.
There is a complete church in the crypt, decorated with wall murals, and used for Mass every day.
One of the three outstanding sculpted portals where “medieval thought becomes visible” according to Malcolm Miller. We spent a fascinating hour listening to him explain the stories behind all of the sculpted representations here.
Malcolm Miller has been guiding at Chartres Cathedral since
1958 and claims that he is still learning about it. He was formerly a historian at Durham University and I was so fascinated I only thought to take out my camera once - it seemed rude to take photos instead of listening. In his younger days, he said he took up to six tours per day. But now he is slowing down and only does two lectures a day in the spring and summer and one per day in the autumn. I can't tell you how good he was. Ninety minutes of detailed, scholarly interpretation of the Middle Ages.
Malcolm has written several books, made TV documentaries and
lectured widely in the USA, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and Sweden.
To acknowledge his work at Chartres, he has
received two of France's highest civilian honours: Knight
of the National Order of Merit and Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
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