Chartres () is the prefecture of the

Eure-et-Loir Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.department in the

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (, , ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (french: région Centre, link=no, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valle ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...

of Chartres (as defined by the INSEE), 38,534 of whom lived in the city ( commune) of Chartres proper. Chartres is famous worldwide for its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

. Mostly constructed between 1193 and 1250, this

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

cathedral is in an exceptional state of preservation. The majority of the original stained glass windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the early 13th century. Part of the old town, including most of the library associated with the School of Chartres, was destroyed by Allied bombs in 1944.

History

Chartres was one of the principal towns in

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

of the Carnutes, a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

tribe. In the Gallo-Roman period, it was called ''Autricum'', name derived from the river ''Autura'' (Eure), and afterwards ''civitas Carnutum'', "city of the Carnutes", from which Chartres got its name. The city was burned by the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

in 858, and unsuccessfully besieged by them in 911. During the Middle Ages, it was the most important town of the Beauce. It gave its name to a county which was held by the counts of Blois, and the counts of Champagne, and afterwards by the House of Châtillon, a member of which sold it to the Crown in 1286. In 1417, during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...

, Chartres fell into the hands of the English, from whom it was recovered in 1432. In 1528, it was raised to the rank of a duchy by

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

. In 1568, during the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

, Chartres was unsuccessfully besieged by the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

leader, the Prince of Condé. It was finally taken by the royal troops of Henry IV on 19 April 1591. On Sunday, 27 February 1594, the cathedral of Chartres was the site of the coronation of Henry IV after he converted to the Catholic faith, the only king of France whose coronation ceremony was not performed in Reims. In 1674,

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

raised Chartres from a duchy to a duchy peerage in favor of his nephew, Duke Philippe II of

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Chartres was hereditary in the House of Orléans, and given to the eldest son of the Duke of Orléans. In the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War, Chartres was seized by the Germans on 2 October 1870, and continued during the rest of the war to be an important centre of operations. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the city suffered heavy damage by bombing and during the battle of Chartres in August 1944, but its

was spared by an American Army officer who challenged the order to destroy it. Note: The Distinguished Service Cross was awarded posthumously for saving the cathedral. On 16 August 1944, Colonel Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr. questioned the necessity of destroying the cathedral and volunteered to go behind enemy lines to find out whether the Germans were using it as an observation post. With his driver, Griffith proceeded to the cathedral and, after searching it all the way up its bell tower, confirmed to Headquarters that it was empty of Germans. The order to destroy the cathedral was withdrawn. Colonel Griffith was killed in action later on that day in the town of Lèves, north of Chartres. For his heroic action both at Chartres and Lèves, Colonel Griffith received, posthumously, several decorations awarded by the President of the United States and the U.S. Military, and also from the French government. Following deep reconnaissance missions in the region by the 3rd Cavalry Group and units of the 1139 Engineer Combat Group, and after heavy fighting in and around the city, Chartres was liberated, on 18 August 1944, by the U.S. 5th Infantry and 7th Armored Divisions belonging to the XX Corps of the U.S. Third Army commanded by General

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

Climate

Demographics

Geography

Chartres is built on a hill on the left bank of the river Eure. Its renowned medieval

is at the top of the hill, and its two spires are visible from miles away across the flat surrounding lands. To the southeast stretches the fertile plain of Beauce, the "granary of France", of which the town is the commercial centre.

Main sights

Cathedrals and churches

Monografie de la Cathedrale de Chartres - 10 Facade Meridionale - Gravure

Chartres is best known for its cathedral, the ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres'', which is considered one of the finest and best preserved

Gothic cathedrals Gothic cathedrals and churches are religious buildings created in Europe between the mid-12th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The cathedrals are notable particularly for their great height and their extensive use of stained glass t ...

in France and in Europe. Its historical and cultural importance has been recognized by its inclusion on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

list of

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

s. It was built on the site of the former Chartres cathedral of

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

, which was destroyed by fire in 1194 (that former cathedral had been built on the ruins of an ancient Celtic temple, later replaced by a Roman temple). Begun in 1205, the construction of ''Notre-Dame de Chartres'' was completed 66 years later. The stained glass windows of the cathedral were financed by guilds of merchants and craftsmen, and by wealthy noblemen, whose names appear at the bottom. It is not known how the famous and unique blue, ''bleu de Chartres'', of the glass was created, and it has been impossible to replicate it. The French author Michel Pastoureau says that it could also be called ''bleu de Saint-Denis''. The ''Église Saint-Pierre de Chartres'' was the church of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

'' Abbaye Saint-Père-en-Vallée'', founded in the 7th century by queen Balthild. At time of its construction, the abbey was outside the walls of the city. It contains fine stained glass and, formerly, twelve representations of the apostles in enamel, created about 1547 by

Léonard Limosin Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' ...

, which now can be seen in the fine arts museum. Other noteworthy churches of Chartres are ''Saint-Aignan'' (13th, 16th and 17th centuries), and ''Saint-Martin-au-Val'' (12th century), inside the Saint-Brice hospital.

Museums

* ''Musée des Beaux-Arts'', Fine arts museum, housed in the former episcopal palace adjacent to the cathedral. * ''Le Centre international du vitrail'', a workshop-museum and cultural center devoted to stained glass art, located from the cathedral. * ''Conservatoire du machinisme et des pratiques agricoles'', an agricultural museum. * ''Musée le grenier de l'histoire'', history museum specializing in military uniforms and accoutrements, in Lèves, a suburb of Chartres. * ''Muséum des sciences naturelles et de la préhistoire'', Natural science and Prehistory Museum (closed since 2015).

Other sights

The river Eure, which at this point divides into three branches, is crossed by several bridges, some of them ancient, and is fringed in places by remains of the old fortifications, of which the ''Porte Guillaume'' (14th century), a gateway flanked by towers, was the most complete specimen, until destroyed by the retreating German army in the night of 15 to 16 August 1944. The steep, narrow streets of the old town contrast with the wide, shady boulevards which encircle it and separate it from the suburbs. The "parc André-Gagnon" or "Clos St. Jean", a pleasant park, lies to the north-west, and squares and open spaces are numerous. Part of the ''Hôtel de Ville'' (City Hall) is a building of the 17th century called ''Hôtel de Montescot''. The ''Maison Canoniale'' dating back to the 13th century, and several medieval and Renaissance houses, are of interest. There is a statue of General Marceau (1769–1796), a native of Chartres and a general during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. ''La Maison Picassiette'', a house decorated inside and out with mosaics of shards of broken china and pottery, is also worth a visit.

Economy

Chartres is one of the most important

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

s in the region of Beauce (known as "the granary of France"). Historically,

game pie Game pie is a form of meat pie featuring game. The dish dates from Roman times when the main ingredients were wild birds and animals such as partridge, pheasant, deer, and hare. The pies reached their most elaborate form in Victorian England, wit ...

s and other delicacies of Chartres were well known, and the industries also included flour-milling, brewing, distilling, iron-founding, leather manufacture, perfumes, dyeing, stained glass, billiard requisites and hosiery. More recently, businesses include the manufacture of electronic equipment and car accessories. Since 1976 the fashion and perfumes company Puig has had a production plant in this commune.

Transport

The Gare de Chartres railway station offers frequent services to Paris, and a few daily connections to Le Mans,

Nogent-le-Rotrou Nogent-le-Rotrou () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture and is located on the river Huisne, 56 kilometres west of Chartres on the RN23 and 150 kilometres south west of Paris, to which it is lin ...

and Courtalain. The A11 motorway connects Chartres with Paris and Le Mans.

Sport

Chartres is home to two semi-professional association football clubs; FC Chartres, who play in the French sixth division, and HB Chartres, who play in the seventh tier. Chartres has a table tennis club which is playing in the Pro A (French First division) and in the European Champions League. The club won the ETTU Cup on the season 2010 – 2011 and it finished at the second position in the French First division. Chartres has the second most important squash club in France. There is also a handball club and it is playing in the French second division. In November 2012, Chartres organized the European Short Course Swimming Championships.

Diocese

The town is the seat of a

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

(bishopric), a prefecture, and a '' cour d'assises''. It has a ''Tribunal de grande instance'', a ''Tribunal d'instance'', a Chamber of commerce and a branch of the ''

Banque de France The Bank of France (French: ''Banque de France''), headquartered in Paris, is the central bank of France. Founded in 1800, it began as a private institution for managing state debts and issuing notes. It is responsible for the accounts of the ...

''. Public and religious schooling from kindergarten through high school and vocational schools is given in mixed (boys and girls) establishments. The two main high schools are the ''Lycée Jehan de Beauce'' and the ''Lycée Marceau'', named after two important personages of the history of Chartres:

Jehan de Beauce Jehan (Jean) Texier or Le Texier (before 1474 – 29 December 1529 in Chartres), better known as Jehan (Jean) de Beauce was a 15th/16th-century French architect. He is known for his works of religious architecture, notably on the Chartres cathedr ...

was a 16th-century architect who rebuilt the northern steeple of the cathedral after it had been destroyed by lightning in July 1506, and Marceau, a native of city, who was a general during the French Revolution of 1789.

Pilgrimages

Chartres has been a site of Catholic pilgrimages since the Middle Ages. The poet Charles Péguy (1873–1914) revived the pilgrimage route between Paris and Chartres before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. After the war, some students carried on the pilgrimage in his memory. Since 1982, the association '' Notre-Dame de Chrétienté'', with offices in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

, organizes the annual pilgrimage on foot from '' Notre-Dame de Paris'' to ''Notre-Dame de Chartres''. About 15,000 pilgrims, from France and countries outside France, participate every year.

Bishops

Notable bishops of Chartres: * Fulbert of Chartres (1007–1029) * St. Ivo of Chartres (1090–1115) *

John of Salisbury John of Salisbury (late 1110s – 25 October 1180), who described himself as Johannes Parvus ("John the Little"), was an English author, philosopher, educationalist, diplomat and bishop of Chartres. Early life and education Born at Salisbury, E ...

(1176–1180) * Érard de La Marck (1472–1538)

Notable people

Chartres was the birthplace of: * Hélène Boucher (1908–1934), pilot * Jacques Pierre Brissot (1754–1793), a leading member of the Girondist movement (

) * Julien Cétout (born 1987 or 1988), football player * Arlette Chabot (born 1951), journalist * Fulcher of Chartres (born around 1059 in or near Chartres), chronicler of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ...

* Alexis de Castillon (1838–1873), composer *

Philippe de Dangeau Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince Philippe, Count ...

(1638–1720), officer and member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

Philippe Desportes Philippe Desportes or Desports (1546 – 5 October 1606) was a French poet.Jean Balsamo. Philippe Desports (1546-1606) Volume 62 of Actes et colloques. Editor, Contributor, Jean Balsamo. Publisher, Klincksieck, 2000 Biography Philippe Desp ...

(1546–1606), poet *

Antoine François Desrues Antoine François Desrues (1744–1777) was a French poisoner. Desrues was born at Chartres, of humble parents. He went to Paris to seek his fortune, and started in business as a grocer. He was known as a man of great piety and devotion, and his b ...

(1744–1777), poisoner * Loïc Duval (born 1982), racing driver * Julien Escudé (born 1979), football player *

Nicolas Escudé Nicolas Jean-Christophe Escudé (born 3 April 1976) is a former professional tennis player from France, who turned professional in 1995. He won four singles titles and two doubles titles during his career. Escudé is best remembered for the vi ...

(born 1976), tennis player *

André Félibien André Félibien (May 161911 June 1695), ''sieur des Avaux et de Javercy'', was a French chronicler of the arts and official court historian to Louis XIV of France. Biography Félibien was born at Chartres. At the age of fourteen he went to Pari ...

(1619–1695), architect and historiographer * Achille Guenée (1809–1880), lawyer and entomologist * Pierre-Jules Hetzel (1814–1886), editor and publisher * Éric Lada (born 1965), football player * Luc Lamirault (born 1962), politician * François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers (1769–1796), general * Pierre Nicole (1625–1695), Jansenist theologian *

Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve (, 3 January 1756 – 18 June 1794) was a French writer and politician who served as the second mayor of Paris, from 1791 to 1792. Early life and work Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve was the son of a prosecutor a ...

(1756–1794), writer and politician *

Allison Pineau Allison Marie Pineau (born 2 May 1989) is a French handballer for RK Krim and the French national team. She won gold medal at the 2017 World Championship, 2018 European Championship and 2020 Olympic Games. She was voted World Handball Player ...

(born 1989), handball player *

André Plassart André Plassart (24 August 1889 – 13 May 1978) was a 20th-century French hellenist, epigrapher and archaeologist. Selected bibliography * . * . * * . * . * . Studies on Plassart *. * . External links André Plassarton data.bnf.fr Pla ...

(1889–1978), hellenist, epigrapher and archaeologist * Philippe Quintais (born 1967), pétanque player * Mathurin Régnier (1573–1613), satirist *

Jacqueline de Romilly Jacqueline Worms de Romilly (; née David, Greek: Ζακλίν ντε Ρομιγύ, 26 March 1913 – 18 December 2010) was a French philologist, classical scholar and fiction writer. She was the first woman nominated to the Collège de France, an ...

(1913–2010),

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and fiction writer * Benjamin Nivet (born 1977), football player * Wandrille Lefèvre (born 1989), Canadian football player * Audrey Marnay (born 1980), actress and model

International relations

Chartres is twinned with: *

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the c ...

, Italy ''(since 1957)'' *

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer lie ...

, Germany ''(since 1959)'' *

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

, United Kingdom ''(since 1959)'' *

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...

, Palestine ''(since 1995)'' *

Évora Évora ( , ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of 1307.08 km2. It is the historic capital of the Alentejo and serves as the seat of the Évora District. Due to its well-preserved old ...

, Portugal ''(since 2003)'' * León, Spain ''(since 2009)'' * Sakurai, Japan ''(since 1989)''

Gallery

File:Gare de Chartres 01.jpg, Chartres railway station File:France Chartres 17th-c-engraving.jpg, 17th-century engraving of Chartres "skyline" File:France_Eure_et_Loir_Chartres_Cathedrale_nuit_02.jpg, The cathedral of Chartres File:France Eure-et-Loir_Chartres Cathedrale 02.jpg, The Apostles and Saint sculptures of Chartres File:France_Eure_et_Loir_Chartres_Bords_de_l_Eure.jpg, The Old Town – Eure River File:France_Eure_et_Loir_Chartres_Maison_a_colombage.jpg, Half-timbered house in the Old Town File:France_Eure_et_Loir_Chartres_Vieille_ville.jpg , Hill of Saint François File:France_Eure_et_Loir_Chartres_Vieille_ville_02.jpg, View south from the cathedral File:Eure_Chartres.jpg, On the banks of the Eure River

References

*
Chartres and the Chartres Cathedral – Visitor Guide

La Maison Picassiette in Chartres

External links

Tourist office website

City council website
(in French)
Chartres' archeology service website (in French)

Website about archaeological excavations
(in French)

(English)
Photo of the abbey church of St.Pierre

Music recorded in Chartres Cathedral in the resonant space of the labyrinth

Chartres World Heritage Site in panographies
– 360-degree interactive imaging {{Authority control Communes of Eure-et-Loir Prefectures in France Archaeological sites in France Carnutes Gallia Lugdunensis Orléanais