Chartres - Cathédrale Notre-Dame

There have been five cathedrals on this site. One was destroyed by Visigothic troops mid of the 8th century. The successive cathedral was burnt down by Vikings ("Danes") in 858. The carolingian structure that was erected within the next decades was burnt down in 962 by troops led by Richard I of Normandy (aka "Richard the Fearless", "Richard Sans-Peur").

The rebuilding started again, but whatever was completed got destroyed by a fire, caused accidently, in 1020. The erection of a Romanesque cathedral started and most of the still existing crypt dates back to that building.

In 1134, another fire damaged the town and large parts of the cathedral. The towers got repaired and rebuilt and the portal between them got created. Another blaze hit the town in June 1194. The cathedral was burnt down. Construction works started the same year. The western towers and the undamaged western portal ("Portail Royal") got integrated into the new building.

The nave was already vaulted in 1220, the transept and the stained windows were completed in 1260. On 24 October 1260, only 66 years after the start of construction, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame was consecrated in the presence of Louis IX of France (aka "Saint Louis", "le Prudhomme").

Since Charles the Bald, Louis the Pious´ son, had given the "Sancta Camisia" to the cathedral in 876. Because of this "Veil of the Virgin" Chartres developed into a very important Marian pilgrimage center in medieval times.


The northern transept´s portal. There are scenes from the Old Testament - and the life of Virgin Mary. Mary's dormition and assumption are on the lintel (above the Mary-trumeau). The Coronation of Mary is on the tympanum. The lintel of the left portal has the Nativity and the Annunciation to the shepherds, the tympanum above the Adoration and the Dream of the Magi.

The portal was carved 1205-1210, so these works are 50 years younger than the statues of the "Portail Royal".