Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Self-Guided Tour:
Start in front of the main entrance (west facade, c. 1150).
Chartres' soaring (if mismatched) steeples announce to pilgrims that they've arrived. The
right (south) tower, with a Romanesque stone steeple, survived the fire. The left (north)
tower lost its wooden steeple in the fire. In the 1500s, it was topped with the flamboyant
Gothic steeple we see today.
Enter the church (from a side entrance, if the main one is closed) and wait for your
pupils to enlarge. The place is huge—the
nave
is 427 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 120 feet
high. Try to picture the church in the Middle Ages—painted in greens, browns, and golds
(like colorful St. Aignan Church in the old town, described later). It was full of pilgrims,
and was a rough cross between a hostel, a soup kitchen, and a flea market.
