While visiting France, touring gothic cathedrals is often on the list of things to do. Like most visitors, you will probably go to Chartres from Paris on the train or by car. As you leave the Gare Montparnasse in Paris you will notice after some time, the gradual disappearance of this excessively large urban centre and the emergence of the quiet countryside. When you get to the Department of Eure-et-Loire, where licence plates all have number 28 as their first two digits, Chartres will appear as a small provincial town of 40 000 inhabitants.
From afar the Cathedral towers above this town. The town that surrounds this gothic masterpiece is quaint and picturesque. Limestone houses line tortuous streets built in medieval times.
Built under the Romans, the city of Autricum had two aqueducts and an amphitheatre. Little else is known about this town built on the banks of the river Eure. By the VIIIth century, archives mention the existence of a Cathedral, which was destroyed by the plundering troops of Hunald, duke of Aquitania. The second Cathedral was destroyed by a Viking named Hastings in 858. In 911 Chartres was once again attacked by the Vikings but this time they fled at the sight of a religious relic exposed by the bishop of Chartres. Richard of Normandy torched the city in 962. During the Xth century, the Cathedral's school had become very reputable. In 1020 the Cathedral was burned to the ground and within a few years construction was begun on a much larger scale under the supervision of the Bishop Fulbert. Over the next centuries, the Cathedral of Chartres took form despite many setbacks such as the fire of 1194. Most of the design was done by the Architech Jean Texier also known as Jehan de Beauce. The famous stained windows were built during the XIIth century. The funding of the project was obtained from many sources: gifts from visitors, from the royal family and nobles, contributions from corporations and merchants.
Over the next centuries, the Cathedral saw the addition of several chapels: the St Piat and Vendôme. Louis XII funded the building of a new bell tower on the North side after the old one had been destroyed in 1506 by lightning. A few years later, the Huguenot army of the Prince of Condé laid siege to Chartres but never managed to destroy the Cathedral.
On February 27th 1594, Henri IV, after converting to Catholicism, was crowned King of France on his way to Paris. He was the only King ever to have been crowned in the Cathedral.
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