The town of Chartres stands on what was a sacred Celtic site thousands of years ago; the forests there were used in all kinds of druidic ceremonies. The divinity worshiped there was most likely feminine, and so to convert the population more easily, early Christian missionaries in this area focused on the Virgin Mary more than usual, rather than work more to get the Celts to worship a masculine god. To this day, Mary's presence is felt much more than even than Jesus: the cathedral is "Our Lady of Chartres", and nearly all the famed stained glass and statuary there is about the life and Assumption of Mary. Interestingly, researches realized this connection when they noted that a very early (8th century?) statue of Mary had her eyes closed; this was extremely unusual for the time, but they figured out this was because the original female deity was often depicted with her eyes closed.
The Chartres cathedral has been a site of pilgrimage since the 9th century because it supposedly houses part of the "Sancta Camisia", a tunic that Mary wore. That church burned and the current one was started in 1145, but part of that burned too, so most of it was actually begun in 1195, making the cathedral part Romanesque but mostly early Gothic. It is huge and breathtaking...it's really amazing to step inside.
Going through the door, out of reach of the light grey, cloudy sky, your eyes take several seconds to adjust to the darkness. The first thing I saw was just the vastness of the building, and how open and airy it all seemed, while at the same time it was very imposing. Then I saw the colors shining dimly through the stained glass, then the Neo-classical carved alterpiece and choir screen.
We both got audio tours that were quite interesting, but I was sad we missed the English tour that day: the guy who does them is apparently a foremost authority on Gothic architecture and a great guide. Anyway, inside the cathedral there are several famous pieces: the labyrinth on the floor (many old cathedrals made labyrinth patterns in the floor stones to represent the mysterious path of life), the Black Virgin carved wooden statue, the choir screen, but above all, the stained glass. It is beautiful, and the more you think about it the more astonishing it is that people created it so perfectly.
Here is a picture of the Blue Virgin, though it does no justice to the famous "Chartres blue" color that is found in the glass there...it's so pretty and intense.
As my mother pointed out, today we have the capacity to compare the colors at Chartres with things we see, such as computer-generated images. The colors are seem almost super-saturated they are so intense, and I can only imagine them as something technology could create. But these windows were made about 900 years ago, when no one could picture images like this anywhere but a window. This was literally one of the only places in the world one could go to see something like it.
Outside, of course, the cathedral is carved and decorated in typical Gothic allegory style. It's not as frilly in terms of architecture, but it is covered in stories. Seeing the Christ in Majesty in person was amazing - it's the scene in the middle portal (above the door) of the entrance, and THE example of Gothic decoration, just as Chartres itself is THE example of Gothic architecture.
I took a tour of the crypt (which is not actually a crypt, but the remains of the original church and the site the cathedral was built on) in French, and was proud of myself that I never had to look at the translation. It was cool, but not as fascinating as the cathedral itself. There was a 10th century frieze of Mary and a well where the Vikings used to throw their victims' bodies.
The weather was kind of crappy when we went, but appropriate. The next day in Orleans was much worse...(since we got a rainbow at the end of Chartres!)
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