Notre-Dame de Chartres - Visiting Chartres Cathedral, France - UNESCO World Heritage site

Visiting Chartres Cathedral, France Chartres Cathedral, also called Notre-Dame d’Chartres or the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Gothic cathedral located in the town of Chartres, northwestern France. Generally ranked as one of the three chief examples of Gothic French architecture (along with Amiens Cathedral and Reims Cathedral), it is noted not only for its architectural innovations but also for its numerous sculptures and its much-celebrated stained glass. The cathedral’s association with the Virgin Mary (the supposed veil of the Virgin is kept in the cathedral treasury) made it the destination of pilgrims in the Middle Ages. The oldest parts of the cathedral are its crypt and the west portal, or Royal Portal, which are remnants of a Romanesque church that was mostly destroyed by fire in 1194. The present cathedral was constructed on the foundations of the earlier church and consecrated in 1260. It is built of limestone and stands some 112 feet (34 metres) high and is 427 feet (130 metres) long. In many ways, the cathedral’s design resembles those of its contemporaries, especially Laon Cathedral, but it displays innovations with its tall arcades, unusually narrow triforium, and huge clerestory—the massive weight of which required using flying buttresses in an unprecedented manner. The cathedral contains an immense amount of sculpture, particularly figure sculpture, ranging from large column statues to miniatures. As the purpose of the sculptures was to preach and...