Chartres is a historic city in north-central France, located about 90 kilometers southwest of Paris in the Eure-et-Loir department of the Centre-Val de Loire region. With a population of around 38,500 in the commune and over 170,000 in its metropolitan area as of recent estimates, it serves as the prefecture of its department. The city is renowned worldwide for its Gothic cathedral, Notre-Dame de Chartres, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that exemplifies French Gothic architecture and has been a major pilgrimage center since the Middle Ages. Chartres has long been an economic hub in the fertile Beauce plain, known as the "granary of France," with industries ranging from agriculture to modern manufacturing like perfumes and electronics. Its history reflects resilience through invasions, fires, wars, and reconstructions, making it a symbol of French cultural heritage.
Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral
Notre-Dame de Chartres
Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the heart of the
city of Chartres in the French department of Eure-et-Loir, in the
Center-Val de Loire region. Seat of the diocese of Chartres, it is
one of the emblematic monuments of Gothic architecture.
Located 80 kilometers southwest of Paris, it is traditionally
considered the most representative, most complete and best-preserved
Gothic cathedral in France with its sculptures, stained-glass
windows and paving for the most part original, although it is built
with the techniques of Romanesque architecture thus showing the
continuity and not the rupture between these two types of
architecture.
The current cathedral, in the so-called
"classical" Gothic style, was built at the beginning of the
thirteenth century, for the most part in thirty years, on the ruins
of a previous Romanesque cathedral, destroyed in a fire in 1194.
Grand place of pilgrimage, it dominates the city of Chartres and the
plain of Beauce, revealing itself to the eye from more than ten
kilometers away.
The building is the subject of a
classification as historical monuments by its census on the list of
1862. Moreover, it is among the first monuments registered on the
World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1979.
The Picassiette house is an example of naive architecture made up of
earthenware and glass mosaics cast in cement. It is located in
Chartres and depends on the city's museum of fine arts.
The
house was built by a single man Raymond Isidore (September 8, 1900 -
September 7, 1964), said Picassiette, municipal employee of the city
of Chartres for which he worked as a road mender, then sweeper of
the cemetery.
Once his house was built, he had the idea of
making frescoes covering everything little by little. His life was
totally devoted to the construction and decoration of his house and
the garden, in particular with the help of ceramic and porcelain
debris, among others the plates that he obtained in public
landfills, hence his nickname "picnic".
Considered an
original, Raymond Isidore received a late media coverage: in the
1950s, the press took an interest in him. But his end of life, in
his space saturated with mosaics, is tragic. His inspiration dried
up, himself exhausted, he experienced mental disorders. On a stormy
night, he fled from home through the fields, in the grip of a
delirium of the end of the world. Found and brought home, he died
shortly after.
The Saint-Pierre church is a church in Chartres (Eure-et-Loir), classified as a historic monument since 1840. Before the Revolution, it was the church of the Saint-Père-en-Vallée abbey (Father meaning here Pierre) whose remains date back to the 7th century. The church became a parish in 1803.
The old Saint-André collegiate church dates from the 12th century.
It is located in Chartres in the French department of Eure-et-Loir
and was classified as a historical monument on the 1840 list. The
primitive church was built, according to tradition by Saint Aignan,
on the site of a Gallo-Roman amphitheater of which we find vestiges
in the walls of one of the crypts. A second building dating from the
tenth century was destroyed by fire in 1134, leaving only the
crypts.
Rebuilt, the Saint-André church was completed in the
second half of the 12th century. At the beginning of the following
century, an arch was launched over the Eure to support the choir of
the building. This will be rebuilt in the sixteenth century by Jehan
de Beauce. In the seventeenth century, a second arch was built in
the extension of the first, spanning the rue du Massacre to support
the chapel of the Virgin, thus creating a very beautiful ensemble,
which also includes a canonical cloister, a Hôtel-Dieu and
cemeteries. .
The Revolution closed the Saint-André church to
worship in 1791. Its octagonal spire was demolished; the painting on
the high altar representing the martyrdom of Saint André by
Sébastien Bourdon was assigned by the consular government in 1803 to
the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse. It became a fodder store until
1861.
In 1805, the chapel of the Virgin installed on the
second arch collapsed, forcing, for safety reasons, to demolish the
choir in 1827. In 1861, the building was seriously damaged by a
first fire, then by a second in 1944. In 1905, the building housed a
carpentry workshop.
Thanks to an integral restoration started in 2003, the collegiate church and its crypts find their new vocation, that of places of cultural activities now combining a quality framework with cutting-edge equipment. It is around the Saint-André church, in this populated and laborious district, that the Saint-André fair was born and developed in the Middle Ages. It still exists today, even if its location is different.
Prehistoric and Ancient Origins
The site's human habitation dates
back to prehistoric times, with early settlements established on a bluff
overlooking the Eure River, providing natural defenses and access to
water. By around 200 BC, Chartres was the capital of the Carnutes, a
powerful Celtic (Gallic) tribe, serving as a religious, political, and
military center where druids held assemblies. The name "Carnutes"
evolved into the modern "Chartres." During the Roman era, following
Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul, the city became known as Autricum,
derived from the river Autura (Eure), and later civitas Carnutum, or
"city of the Carnutes." It was an important Roman oppidum at the
crossroads of trade routes, with remnants of aqueducts and temples. A
sacred well or spring in the area, later incorporated into the
cathedral's crypt, suggests pre-Christian religious significance,
possibly dedicated to a fertility goddess. Christianity arrived early,
with the city evangelized in the 3rd century by saints like Altin and
Eoldad, and a bishopric established by the 4th century, making it one of
the oldest in France.
Early Middle Ages (5th–11th Centuries)
Following the fall of the Roman Empire, Chartres transitioned into a
Christian center. The first cathedral, of which no traces remain, likely
dates to the 4th century. By the 7th century, the Benedictine Abbaye
Saint-Père-en-Vallée was founded by Queen Balthild, initially outside
the city walls; its church, now Église Saint-Pierre, features elements
from this era. The city faced Viking invasions: in 858, Norsemen under
Hastings raided and burned Chartres, destroying the cathedral and abbey,
but it was quickly rebuilt, with the crypt of Saint-Lubin surviving from
the 9th century. Another Viking siege in 911 was repelled. In 876, King
Charles the Bald donated the relic of the Virgin Mary's veil (Sancta
Camisa), believed to have been worn during Christ's birth, elevating
Chartres as a pilgrimage site. A devastating fire in 1020 destroyed the
cathedral, prompting Bishop Fulbert (c. 960–1028), a key scholar, to
rebuild a larger Romanesque structure between 1020 and 1024, with the
principal crypt still extant. Fulbert's efforts also established the
School of Chartres, a renowned center of medieval learning focusing on
philosophy, theology, and the liberal arts, attracting figures like John
of Salisbury.
High and Late Middle Ages (12th–15th Centuries)
The 12th century marked Chartres' golden age. A fire in 1134 ravaged the
city but spared the cathedral, allowing expansions: the Royal Portal (c.
1145–1150), south tower (Vieux Clocher, c. 1170), and a lengthened nave.
However, a catastrophic fire on June 10, 1194, destroyed most of the
Romanesque cathedral, sparing only the crypt, west façade, and towers.
Miraculously, the Virgin's veil was found intact, inspiring a massive
reconstruction led by Bishop Renaud de Mousson (a relative of King
Philip II Augustus). Built between 1194 and 1221 (with consecration in
1260), the new Gothic cathedral introduced innovations like flying
buttresses, a vast nave in ogival style, and three transept porches with
intricate sculptures depicting biblical scenes. Its 176 stained-glass
windows, mostly from 1205–1240, cover 2,600 square meters and feature
the iconic "Chartres blue," financed by guilds, nobles, and royalty. The
cathedral's unity and preservation make it a pinnacle of Gothic art,
influencing structures in Reims, Amiens, and beyond.
During this
period, Chartres was a county under the counts of Blois and Champagne,
sold to the French Crown in 1286. It became a major pilgrimage hub on
routes to Santiago de Compostela, with annual fairs drawing merchants.
Additions included the Saint-Piat Chapel (14th century) and Vendôme
Chapel (15th century), while the north tower was completed in Flamboyant
Gothic style in the early 16th century. The School of Chartres
flourished, emphasizing humanism and Platonism.
Renaissance and
Early Modern Period (16th–18th Centuries)
Chartres endured the
Hundred Years' War, falling to the English in 1417 and reclaimed in
1432. Raised to a duchy by Francis I in 1528, it was besieged
unsuccessfully by Huguenots in 1568 during the Wars of Religion. Royal
troops under Henry IV captured it in 1591, and on February 27, 1594,
Henry was crowned king in the cathedral—the only coronation outside
Reims—after converting to Catholicism to end the wars. In 1674, Louis
XIV made it a duchy peerage for the House of Orléans. The 18th century
saw interior changes, including the demolition of the choir screen
(jube) and addition of a marble Assumption statue. The city remained a
market town, producing game pies, leather, and stained glass.
19th Century
The French Revolution threatened the cathedral, renamed
the "Temple of Reason" and nearly demolished, but local revolutionary
Sergent-Marceau saved it. In 1836, a fire destroyed the wooden roof,
replaced with an iron frame covered in copper (now verdigris-green).
Railway connection to Paris in 1849 boosted the economy. During the
Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), Germans occupied Chartres on October 2,
1870, using it as a base. Industries expanded to include flour-milling,
brewing, and hosiery.
20th Century to the Present
World War II
brought occupation by Germans in 1940. In August 1944, as Allies
approached, the cathedral was nearly bombed as a suspected observation
post, but U.S. Colonel Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr., confirmed it empty,
saving it; he died later that day in nearby Lèves. Chartres was
liberated on August 18 by U.S. forces under General Patton. Postwar, the
city rebuilt, with damage to the old town from Allied bombing, including
the School of Chartres library. Since 1979, the cathedral has been a
UNESCO site, with restorations from 1994 onward revealing 13th-century
decorations and cleaning the famous windows. Pilgrimages revived,
notably by poet Charles Péguy, with annual events drawing 15,000. Modern
Chartres thrives on agriculture, tourism, and industry (e.g., Puig
perfumes since 1976), connected by A11 motorway and high-speed trains to
Paris. Cultural sites include the Musée des Beaux-Arts, International
Stained Glass Centre, and agricultural museum Le Compa. Twin towns like
Bethlehem and Cusco foster international ties. Ongoing cathedral
renovations preserve its legacy as a testament to medieval craftsmanship
and faith.