Chartres Cathedral

48 26 '50 "N 1 29' 15" E / 48.44722, 1.487417

Cathedral Notre-Dame de Chartres
Cathedral Notre-Dame de Chartres
Contact	48 26 '50 "North 1 29 '15 "East / 48.44722, 1.487417
Country	France
Region	Center
Department	Eure-et-Loir
City	Chartres
Worship	Roman Catholic
Type	Cathedral
Attached to	Diocese of Chartres (headquarters)
Construction begins	1145 (Romanesque cathedral) 1194 (gothic cathedral)
Work Completed	1220
Style (s) dominating (s)	Novel Gothic
Protection	Rated MH ( 1862 ) World Heritage ( 1979 )
Location
Geolocation on the map: France
change

Notre-Dame de Chartres , in France , is the landmark of the prefecture of the department of Eure-et-Loir , located 80 kilometers southwest of Paris. It is considered the most representative Gothic cathedral, the most complete - and the best preserved.

The current cathedral style Gothic called "lanceolate", was built in the early ^thirteenth century , for the most part in thirty years, on the ruins of an earlier cathedral romanesque , destroyed by fire in 1194.

Great place for pilgrimage , the cathedral and its towers dominate the town of Chartres and the plain of Beauce around. They perceive to several tens of kilometers away.

The cathedral is the subject of a classification as historic monuments by the list of 1862 ^History

Buildings previous

Some traditions evoke an ancient druidic cave and a statue of mother goddess who had served as a sanctuary to the early Christians in Roman times. This legend, known as "the Virgin birth to" explain the length of the Marian cult at Chartres. She impressed people for centuries. Yet it has never received any evidence .

"

The construction of the first cathedral takes place towards the middle of the ^fourth century. It is called "cathedral of Aventine , named the first bishop of the city. It was probably built at the foot of the Gallo-Roman wall that surrounded the city. The first cathedral was destroyed by fire in 743 or 753 by the troops of the Visigoths of the Duke of Aquitaine Hunald , during the sack of the city. A second sanctuary was built then.

On 12 June 858 , the second cathedral was destroyed by pirates Vikings. Bishop Gislebert rebuilt a larger building. Of the latter, there are probably some parts of the current martyrium called Chapel St. Lubin.

In 876 , King Charles the Bald , grand-son of Charlemagne donated to the cathedral of the holy relic known as the "Veil of the Virgin" or "Holy Robe." This event should be a sanctuary of Chartres foreground.

August 5, 962 the third cathedral was in turn burned during the war between Richard I , Duke of Normandy , the Count of Chartres, Thibault the Trickster. A fourth building, succeeded him.

7 and 8 September 1020 , this fourth building was in turn destroyed accidentally by fire. Bishop Fulbert raised the church from its ruins, Romanesque. In 1020 , we built the lower church, as we know it today. The construction of the latter lasted from 1020 to 1024.
The dedication of this fifth cathedral took place on October 17 1037. Bishop Fulbert died in 1029.

Construction of the present cathedral

September 5, 1134 , the city of Chartres was almost completely destroyed by fire. The Romanesque cathedral was spared Fulbert. From 1134 to 1160 , taking advantage of the free space in front of the nave was erected the western facade that we know today. They began work in the north tower. From 1142 to 1150 or so, came the construction of the royal portal, together with its remarkable sculpture. In 1145 , work started on the south tower (now called bell "old"), whose construction was completed, with spire, circa 1160. The north tower (tower called "nine") is originally comprised only two floors. It was long covered timber and lead, until 1506.

June 11, 1194 another fire occurred which spared only the crypts, the west front and towers. The Veil of the Virgin had been providentially taken shelter in the martyrium said "Chapel of St. Lubin.

Rchapprent several parties recently built - immediately reused in the new project. Neither of the two towers had suffered too severely from the heat. The portal was mostly preserved, and the three windows placed on top, with matching windows. Another window was even saved from the fire, before being reassembled in the ambulatory, "Our Lady of the beautiful glass roof."

Reconstruction of the building as we know it began immediately. If the architect is unknown (it should rather imagine a succession of contractors, from other contemporary sites), what we see is the extreme rapidity of construction - seamless funding. From the years 1220-1225, the canons settled in their stalls, the vaults being completed. It will take several decades for cons to complete the gables of the transept.

In 1240 , the windows were already made. And the solemn consecration took place in 1260.

The coronation of Henry IV

Henry IV was the only king of France crowned in this cathedral and not to Reims , as was the custom. Reims and Paris were in fact held by Catholics, who opposed their resistance to the king because of his Protestant faith. He converted and was crowned King of France at Chartres in 1594.

The fraternities of journeymen builders

The cathedral was built by specialized workers, called companions , meeting as brotherhoods or fraternities. The latter, paid to the task, sometimes left on some stones engraved signs that are their signatures.

Some figures ^,

Main dimensions

• internal length: 130 m
• vault height: 37.50 m
• height from ground to top of roof: 51 m
• height of the old tower: 105 m
• height of the steeple new: 115 m
• Domestic Total length: 130 m
  • whose length of the narthex: 17 m
  • length of the nave: 44 m
  • transept: 14 m
  • length of the choir: 37 m
  • ambulatory and axial chapel: 18 m
• width of central aisle of the nave: 16.40 m (12 m for against Notre Dame de Paris )
• width of the nave with aisles: 33 m
• inner width of the transept pier to pier: 63.4 m
• width of the choir with aisles: 47 m
• width of the west facade: 48 m
  • which the Royal Portal: 15 m
• width of each of north and south facades: 40 m

Additional Details

• The closing of the choir consists of 200 statues
• The large rosette with 13.36 meters in diameter is one of the largest in the world (The two rosettes of the transept of Notre-Dame de Paris has a diameter of 13.1 meters).
• 181 depictions of the Virgin
• Notre-Dame de Chartres has nearly 3,500 statues.
• Nearly 9,000 characters are represented, if you count the windows.
• There are 9 carved portals (which is unique in Europe).
• With its 650 m ^2, the choir is the largest in France.
• The transept of 63.4 m is also the longest in France.
• The Romanesque crypt is the largest in France.
• It has 176 windows.
• The total area of stained glass is 2 600 m ²
• The cathedral possesses the largest area in the world of stained glass of the ^twelfth and ^thirteenth centuries.

Cathedral classified as World Heritage

Chartres Cathedral has been classified as World Heritage by UNESCO in the three following reasons:

1. Represent a masterpiece of human creative genius "was built fairly quickly and almost in one piece, is the cathedral of Chartres, for the unity of its architecture and decoration, the total and complete expression of one of the most unanimous in the Christian Middle Ages. "
2. Exhibit an important interchange of human values ... "The Cathedral of Chartres has exerted considerable influence on the development of Gothic art in France and outside France.
3. An outstanding example of a type of construction ... "The Cathedral of Chartres is both a symbol and a building type: the most illuminating example that one can choose to unravel the cultural, social and aesthetic Gothic cathedral. "

The exterior of the cathedral

Towers

We can easily recognize the cathedral Notre-Dame de Chartres because of the large difference between its two towers: the north tower has a base type of early Gothic (with stiffener thick and reduced opening), surmounted by an arrow flaming later (dated the ^sixteenth century ), in contrast, the south tower, equipped with a more typical Gothic spire is very simple. This boom has been the subject of numerous reviews of artists and writers ('unique' Charles Peguy said of her) so the impression of 'spurt' is striking.

In these towers are 7 bells:

• Marie, weighing 6 tons date 1840 in the Grand Tour gives a G2, it sounds great occasions.
• Stamp weighing 4 tons in date from 1520 Lantern gives La2 it strikes the hours.
• Joseph weighing 2,137 kilograms date as 1840 in the Grand Tour provides an Si2, it rings a peal.
• Anne weighing 1845 kg is in the Little Tower gives a D3, it sounds to fly.
• Elizabeth weighing 1500 kg is in the Little Tower gives E3, it sounds to fly.
• Piat weighing 100 kg is in the Little Tower gives a F # / Gb 3, it sounded a peal.
• Fulbert weighing 900 kg is in the Little Tower gives a G3, it will ring stolen

Royal Portal

The west front is the front door of the church building. Flanked by two towers, it has a large sculptural program: 24 large statues (there are still 19 today) and over 300 figures form a decoration in harmony with the architecture of the cathedral . The scenery behind the statues representing the last rays of the Romanesque style : interlacing , columns, acanthus leaves show southern influences.

North Portal

The northern portal is also called "Gateway to the Alliance." His statues were executed between 1205 and 1210 . They depict scenes from the Old Testament and the life of the Virgin Mary. The arches of the central bay evoke episodes from Genesis. The right bay takes up the theme of the works and days.

South portal

The south portal is dedicated to the Church from the apostles (central bay) to confessors (right bay) and martyrs (left bay). Its date is close to that of the north portal, perhaps slightly earlier.

On the pier of the central bay, there is a "Christ teaching 'and tympanic figuration of Judgement.

roofs

The previous roof (wood frame) of the cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1836, she was replaced in 1837 by a metal frame and a copper roof. The new design was created by Emile Martin and M. Mignon. It was restored in 1997 under the direction of Guy Nicot . Photos of the restoration project are outlined in a tower room blazing (entrance fee).

Interior

Stained glass windows

Chartres Cathedral has the largest all glass of the ^thirteenth century , remarkably preserved to this day. The ^twelfth century, three windows are preserved, including cobalt blue inimitable, whose secret recipe does not reach us.

The remarkable number of 176 stained glass windows (including small pink) corresponds to a surface of 2600 m ^2. For the most part, they represent saints and holy personages or the Bible ( Noah , Joseph , the Good Samaritan , the Prodigal Son ...), but also the Golden Legend of Jacques de Voragine (Italian Dominican ^XIII century ).

There are also references to corporations that may have helped pay for these windows.

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  Signs of the Zodiac and months of work - from bottom to top: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer and Leo

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  Our Lady of the Beautiful Stained Glass Window

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  Detail of the central bay of the triplet of the western facade, representing episodes from the life of Christ. The windows are read from bottom to top.

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  Windows of the choir

The north rose

In the north transept, the rose represents the Virgin and Child surrounded by angels, kings and prophets of Judah. In the lancets in the rosette, St. Anne , mother of the Virgin Mary is in the central lancet. They are surrounded by characters from the Old Testament in the other lancets. In the spandrels , one can see the arms of Blanche of Castile (Castilian castle) and St. Louis (lily).

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  The north rose window, overview

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  The rosette itself: Virgin and Child with the kings and prophets of Judah

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  Lancet Central: Mary Anne on

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  Weapons of Blanche of Castile and St. Louis in a spandrel

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge

Labyrinth

The labyrinth of Chartres, the work of the ^twelfth century , is a circular geometric figure inscribed across the width of the paving of the nave principal, between the third and fourth spans. It represents a continuous line made of 261.55 m, from the outside and ending at the center, in a succession of curves and arcs of concentric circles. One of its features is that, starting from the center or outside, the path has exactly the same sequence of turns and arcs.

His career would consist of 276 white stones which the first three different sizes . Caerdroia publishing the journal devoted to labyrinths, Jeff Saward reported on the site labyrinthos an opinion increasingly widespread: the exact number of stones forming the path of the labyrinth of Chartres, 270 or 272 stones symbolically correspond to the number of days the pregnancy and give the maze towards a new gestation. This author, however, put in doubt the possibility of providing an accurate count of the number of stones forming the path of the labyrinth, because appearing on the broken stones from their poses and possible repairs. Such claims are likely an unpublished manuscript by Robert Ferr, A Day at Chartres (1995), who credits the canon Legal and before him John Villette for making an accurate count of 272 stones. Jean Villette had himself had drawn attention in a footnote on page in an article by Gilles Fresson . Paradoxically, it was expected that to cut short any attempt to interpret exaggerated, while a public authority then gave the number of 365 stones.

This particular example shows, among other things, how the labyrinth of Chartres, fascinating contemporaries, gives rise to many recoveries, from movements marked by their great diversity (Geobiology, neurological analysis, behavioral psychology, new age, Templars, Eastern spirituality) and which do not lend historical value.

This labyrinth was probably inspired the mythical Labyrinth of Crete built by Daedalus , as suggested by the copper plate located in the center, removed in 1792, which would have represented the battle of Theseus and the Minotaur ^{, ,} . Nevertheless, Andre Peyronie expressed his skepticism about the existence of a representation Minotauromachique at Chartres, which would be a unique case in France, as suggested by Marcel Joseph Bulteau yet at the end of the ^nineteenth century .

If we rely on the cultural canons of the thirteenth century, only owners of the building, the maze would be a symbolic way in which man is going to meet God. This can be understood as a pilgrimage 'site', whose purpose is to call people to repentance and meditation, lived with both the body and the spirit. It can also be read symbolically the course of human existence, long and complicated, expressing the confidence to finally leads in the presence of God. The center of this great cause and symbolizes the heavenly Jerusalem, or the afterlife. As it performs a projection of the pink facade on the pavement, this rose dedicated to the resurrection of the dead is exactly the labyrinth, the Christ of the end times are then superimposed at the center of the labyrinth . The approach of the maze is not just going to the center, but to leave. The pilgrim is invited to follow the line drawn in front of him to ascend to the choir of the cathedral - in particular the altar .

The Chartres labyrinth has been called "The Place" - although the league / A> French is much more developed than the length of the labyrinth - and later "road to Jerusalem" ^{Closing of the choir}

The choir screen is a wall fence around the choir, designed to insulate the latter from the ambulatory. Fully sculpted (40 groups, 200 statues in all), it is partly the work of Jehan de Beauce , who began work early in the ^sixteenth century. The iconography is of Renaissance style and evokes episodes from the life of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

The Virgin Pillar

This virgin pearwood dates from about 1540 , it was once backed by the choir screen , which itself has been destroyed in the ^eighteenth century.

The veil of the Virgin

It is a relic very important that was offered in 876 to the cathedral by Charles the Bald , Emperor of the West. This veil, according to tradition, is the shirt worn by Mary during the Annunciation , when the Word was designed. This important relic drained many pilgrims. During the fire at the old church in 1194 , it was thought that the relic was lost, but we found the intact: this was interpreted as the fact that the Virgin Mary wanted a larger church for its relic, and may explain be the enthusiasm and speed with which the new cathedral was built.

The relic was contained in a casket of valuable jewels which were sold to the revolution. Similarly, the veil was cut into several pieces, which were sold. Expertise of the fabric, made in 1927 by the Museum of Lyon silk dating old (first century). However, it is valuable silk, which is surprising given the social status of Mary. The veil is still on display in the walkway on the north side, in an apsidal chapels.

Notre-Dame de Chartres is a place of pilgrimage important currently, mainly due to the traditional pilgrimage to Our Lady of Christendom held each year during the weekend of Pentecost, which attracts as many as 8000 Pilgrims from around the world, but also thanks to the popularity of the route of St. Jacques de Compostela , which Chartres is a stop for pilgrims coming from the north by road from Paris.

The organ

The Grand Organ of the Cathedral of Chartres was built in 1971 by the Residential Danion-Gonzalez.