Chartres, France
Chartres Cathedral
A huge old French church with 176 original stained-glass windows and a stone maze that pilgrims still walk.
Biblical significance
Rebuilt in a single generation after the fire of 1194, Chartres preserves its original sculpture and almost all its thirteenth-century glass, including the blue that no one has convincingly reproduced. The floor labyrinth, 261 metres of path in a thirteen-metre circle, is uncovered on Fridays in the pilgrimage season. The Sancta Camisa, venerated as the tunic Mary wore at the Nativity, survived the 1194 fire and made the cathedral's reputation.
Scripture
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Best time to go
Friday, when the labyrinth chairs are cleared.
Visitor notes
Free entry. Malcolm Miller's English tours are the definitive introduction. Crypt tours are separately ticketed.
Coordinates
48.4477, 1.4878
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