Spring Vacation 2010 - Chartre

Last stop on our way home was to see the cathedral in Chartres. This was one of the cathedrals that I always wanted to visit. So when we noticed that it was just a short detour from our route home, we decided to go for it.

We caught our first glimpse of the cathedal from about 8 km, a solitary building seeming to rise out of the fields. In fact, it is in the middle of a city, but it appears that they have been careful not to build high enough to compete with the height of the cathedral.

There are a couple of things that make the cathedral in Chartres special. One is that it was built is a relative short time frame and so reflects a uniformity in style that other Gothic cathedrals lack. Work began on the cathedral in 1194 and the roof was put on in 1220. Work on the north and south portals took another 40 years. The north tower was erected in second half of the 13th century. The south tower waited until 1507, which explains the difference in styles of the towers.

The other special thing about Chartres cathedral is that it was undisturbed by the French Revolution or by the World Wars. This means that the stained glass is original and dates to the 13th century. As are the cravings decorating the exterior and the interior of the cathedral.

Even on the dark and raining day the we visited, the 176 stained glass windows were spectacular. Unfortunaely, it was too dark for our attempts at pictures to come out. We could only imagine what it would be like on a sunny day. It is a reason to return.