Chartres Cathedral

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Chartres Cathedral, or Notre-Dame de Chartres, is a Catholic cathedral in Chartres, France, about 80 kilometres southwest of Paris. It was built mostly between 1194 and 1220 and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, called Our Lady. It is one of the best-known and most influential examples of High Gothic architecture. In 1979 UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site and called it the high point of French Gothic art.

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At a glance

Country: France
Location: Chartres, France
Built: 1220
Height: 113 m
Type: Religious building

Quick answers

Where is Chartres Cathedral?

Chartres Cathedral is in Chartres, France.

When was Chartres Cathedral built?

Chartres Cathedral was built in 1220.

How tall is Chartres Cathedral?

Chartres Cathedral is about 113 m tall.

A High Gothic cathedral with two mismatched spires and almost all of its medieval stained glass.

The cathedral has been very well preserved. Most of its original stained glass windows survive, and the building has changed little since the early 13th century. Heavy flying buttresses on the outside let the builders make the windows far bigger. Two very different spires rise at the west end: a plain stone pyramid about 105 metres tall, finished around 1160, and a 113-metre spire in the ornate Flamboyant style, built in 1507 to 1513.

Five cathedrals on one hill

At least five cathedrals have stood here, each replacing one damaged by war or fire. The first dated from the 4th century at the latest. A fire on 7 September 1020 led Bishop Fulbert to build a new Romanesque one, and many European rulers sent money. On the night of 10 June 1194 another huge fire left only the crypt, the towers and the new west front. The cathedral was already a famous pilgrimage site, and gifts poured in from kings, nobles and ordinary people, so rebuilding started almost at once.

Glass and a holy tunic

Chartres is famous for its stained glass. Three windows over the west doors date from about 1145, and the "Blue Virgin" window is among the most famous. Pilgrims have come since at least the 12th century to honour the Sancta Camisa, said to be the tunic Mary wore when Jesus was born. A Black Madonna statue inside was crowned by Pope Pius IX in 1855. The nave floor also holds a labyrinth set in the paving.

Survived fire and war

In 1836 careless workmen started a fire that destroyed the lead-covered wooden roof and the two belfries, but the stone building and the stained glass were not harmed. The old roof was replaced by a copper-covered roof on an iron frame, which at the time had the largest span of any iron-framed construction in Europe.

Fun facts

Its two spires do not match: one is plain Romanesque, the other a later, ornate Gothic.
At least five cathedrals have stood on this site.
In 1145 more than a thousand penitents dragged carts of building supplies to the site in a movement known as the Cult of Carts.
Most of its original stained glass is still in place.
A plain stone spire built around 1160 stands next to an ornate one from the 1500s.