Cathedral in a tent. Chartres Cathedral. Climbing to the observation deck on the tower

I’ll start my walks around one of the most beloved cities in France with cathedral, which seems quite logical to me. This majestic building has been under constant restoration for several decades, which will ultimately help return the church to its medieval authentic appearance. The northern facade was restored in 1997-99, the southern facade (without portals) - 2007-08, the western facade (2008, 2010-2012). The interior has also been restored since 2008. The work should be completed by 2015.

Photos were taken in the summer of 2012 and 2013.

At the end of the post there are photos from the cathedral illumination show.

The first temple was built here in the middle of the 4th century. It was called the Aventine Cathedral after the first bishop of the city. The temple was apparently built at the foot of the Gallo-Roman wall that surrounded the city. It was destroyed by fire in 743 or 753 by Visigothic troops. After another reconstruction, begun in 859, Bishop Gilbert turned the church into the city's cathedral. At the same time, King Charles II presented the cathedral with one of the most significant relics of Christianity - the veil of the Virgin Mary. During the revolution, the clergy divided the cover into several parts in the hope that at least one of them would survive. Indeed, when France calmed down, the largest piece was returned to the cathedral, and is still kept here.

The first cathedral burned down in 1020 and a Romanesque cathedral was built in its place. The work was supervised by Bishop Fulbert, who organized the famous Chartres School, a scientific center of the Middle Ages.

This cathedral stood until a severe fire in 1194. Only the crypt, part of the western facade and the lower tier of the towers survived the fire. Miraculously, the casket with the veil of the Virgin Mary was not damaged.

In the same year, work began on the construction of a new cathedral. The drawings of the old one were taken as a basis, and its surviving fragments were built into the new building. The construction of the temple was basically completed in 1225, and its appearance has been preserved to this day. Only the northern tower was supplemented with a tent decorated with intricate stone lace at the beginning of the 16th century.

The new cathedral was consecrated in 1260 in the presence of King Louis IX Saint, and in honor of the Virgin Mary was named Notre-Dame de Chartres.

The main facade of the cathedral is western, framed by two bell towers. There were many statues located here: 24 large (19 have survived) and 300 smaller figurative elements that created a decorative decoration of the facade. The wall behind the statues is covered with patterns bearing the imprint of the Romanesque style that has not yet fallen - wickerwork, columns, acanthus leaves. The portal on this facade bears the honorary name of the Royal.

Because of complex history construction of the cathedral, its two bell towers were made in different style: The north tower bears the imprint of typical early Gothic style (with thick ribs and a tapered silhouette), and is crowned by a spire in the Flame Gothic style, installed in the 16th century. And the south tower has a more classical Gothic appearance, being erected in the mature period of the style. Its spire is more simple. This difference between the two bell towers is a unique feature of the building. This tower contains 7 bells, each of which has its own name and voice.

The north portal dates from 1230 and contains sculptures of Old Testament characters.

On the northern façade there is a portal called the “Gate of the Covenant”. Here are scenes from Old Testament and the life of the Virgin Mary. Episodes from the Book of Genesis are carved on the central arch. The right part is devoted to the theme of “works and days.”

Presumably, statues of Blessed Isabella and her father Louis VIII on one of the portals of the cathedral.

There is also a 16th-century clock on the north side of the cathedral.

The southern portal, created between 1224 and 1250, is symmetrical to the northern one, telling about the Church, which rests on the apostles (central part), saints (right) and martyrs (left).

The cathedral is famous primarily for its amazingly rich decor. There are almost 3,500 statues in the interior and façade, many of which are perfect examples of the Gothic style. There are 9 carved portals, the largest choir in France and the largest Romanesque crypt. The total area of the cathedral's 176 stained glass windows is 2,600 square meters. m.

Renovated outpatient clinic:

The choir fence separates it from the outpatient clinic. It is entirely sculpted - 40 groups containing 200 statues, many of which were made by a master named Jean de Beauce, who began work in the early 16th century. Renaissance iconography is dedicated to episodes from the life of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. The cathedral contains a wooden statue of the Virgin dating from 1540, which was part of an enclosure destroyed in the 18th century.

The stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral are very famous, both for their beauty and for the fact that it is the most significant single ensemble of windows preserved from the 13th century. They were mainly created in 1205-1240. Most of the windows were made while the cathedral was being rebuilt after a fire in 1194. The only ancient ones are the stained glass windows of the Abbey of Saint-Denis, commissioned by Abbot Suger in 1144-1151. Three windows on the western facade survive from the previous century - probably 1145-1155. An early window from 1180 also remains - on the south side of the ambulatory, depicting the Virgin Mary. It has a proper name - Our Lady of the Beautiful Glass (Notre-Dame-de-la-Belle-Verrière). This is one of the main, most famous stained glass windows of the cathedral.

The famous stained glass window of Notre-Dame de la Belle Verrière from the 12th century. It is on this that the amazing blue color has been preserved.

The main color of Chartres stained glass is intense blue, created using cobalt blue, the secret of its reproduction is now lost. Almost two hundred windows are important works of decorative art. Several windows were damaged and restored in subsequent centuries. In 1972, stained glass windows began to be cleaned of dirt, and work is still ongoing. The plots are traditional - from the Old and New Testaments, although motifs from the “Golden Legend” of Jacob Voraginsky were used. Among the motifs you can find zodiac signs, as well as references to the workshops that may have paid for the creation of these stained glass windows. The narrative in stained glass is generally read from bottom to top and left to right (with the exception of the Passion cycle, which is read from top to bottom). In addition to stained glass windows with traditional gospel scenes, it is interesting to look at the cycle of windows with the history of Charlemagne, and this ruler is not even a canonized saint. Saint-Denis has windows on similar subjects, such as the emperor's legendary journey to the east, during which the relics of the Passion were found. Stained glass windows in Chartres were invented based on the same ancient manuscripts, but with additions. The stories are very strange and unusual: for example, one of the windows is dedicated to Charlemagne’s repentance for the sin of incest with his sister, from whom Roland was born.

The rose window on the north transept facade depicts the Virgin and Child enthroned, surrounded by beams with doves, angels, kings and prophets. The rose window of the south transept is dedicated to scenes of the Apocalypse, as well as theological interpretations. At the center is Christ in glory.

Also unconventional are the stained glass windows in the Vendôme Chapel, which were paid for by Louis de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme, after a pilgrimage to Chartres and after the Battle of Agincourt, where he was captured. The chapel was built in 1417. Members of his family (including Queen Joan of Naples and Jean de Lusignan, King of Cyprus) and their patron saints are depicted here. Unfortunately, by 1700 they were already damaged, and during the French Revolution, images of members of the Vendôme family were destroyed. The images were redone in 1920 by the artist Albert-Louis Bonneau based on drawings from a private collection. One of characteristic features of this stained glass cycle - a large number of donors who invested in the creation of these windows. These are not only kings (Louis VIII, Ferdinand III of Castile, Louis IX and Blanche of Castile), dukes and counts (Thibault VI, Count of Blois, Simon de Montfort), but also 30 guilds (carpenters, masons, bakers, furriers) that are depicted in everyday scenes that give a vivid picture of medieval guild society.

Interestingly, the wooden roof of the cathedral burned down in 1836; the following year it was replaced with copper sheets over a metal frame. Modern look is the result of a renovation carried out in 1997.

Decorations and sculpture of the cathedral when climbing one of the towers:

The temple crypts are the result construction work different periods and bear features of various architectural styles. Here you can see frescoes from the 12th century, 19th century, as well as modern paintings. The inner crypt is probably part of a structure built during the Carolingian era, in the 9th century. It bears the name of St. Luben and is located under the choir of the current cathedral, just below the altar. The outer crypt of St. Fulbert (also known as the lower church) runs in a semicircle from one tower to the other. Dating from the 11th century, it is 230 meters long and 5-6 meters wide, and is the largest crypt in France. Here is the chapel of Our Lady of the Subterranean (Notre-Dame Sous-Terre) - perhaps one of the oldest sanctuaries dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Western Europe. There is a statue here, dated 1975, which reproduces an ancient statue probably burned by revolutionaries in 1793. It may have originally been a statue of the Mother Goddess from Gallo-Roman times. The other chapels in the underground crypt are three Romanesque and four Gothic (13th century). There is also the Saints-Forts well, the water of which, according to medieval belief, had miraculous healing powers. In the southern gallery there are frescoes from the 12th century depicting popular saints - Clement, Aegidius, Martin, Nicholas. At the end of the southern gallery there is a stone font from the Romanesque period.

The hill on which Chartres Cathedral was built was a place of worship long before the advent of Christianity.

This hill was sacred long before the arrival of the Druids and served as a center of pilgrimage for thousands of years. What attracted the pagans here? What indicated to the Druids and those who were here before them that the land here was “holy”?

This is genius loci - the spirit of the place...

The spirit of the earth sometimes manifested itself in the form of underground waters with magnetic properties or in the way, according to the beliefs of the ancients, the gods made themselves known.

Such places include Delphi, the Temple Hill in Jerusalem and the hill in Chartres. In these places you can find the most powerful telluric forces (energy flows, earth currents).

This is Spiritus Mundi, or spirit of the earth. Spiritus Mundi is so powerful that it can awaken certain hidden powers in a person. This has been believed since the times of the Druids, when the hill in Chartres was called the Hill of the Strong or the Hill of the Initiates...

This spirit of a place is so sacred that no physical influence can destroy it. Therefore, under no circumstances should the hill that stands in this place be desecrated. Chartres Cathedral is the only cathedral in France where not a single monarch, cardinal or bishop was buried. The hill remains undefiled to this day, as does the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The presence of Spiritus Mundi in Chartres has been known since prehistoric times. The people who built the cathedral at the intersection of water currents, which enhance the effect of the “spirit of the place,” also knew about it.

According to some researchers, the power of this mystical energetic place in Chartres is enhanced by a large loop of an underground river and fan-shaped underground channels converging at one point. There are several other places in the cathedral itself where energy forces manifest themselves so noticeably that it can be felt physically.

Photos from the illumination show of the cathedral in the summer of 2013.

Less than a hundred kilometers from Paris is an ancient city Chartres, which is known throughout the world as an architectural monument of special historical value. It's about Chartres Cathedral Holy Mother of God (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), which has remained almost unchanged since the 13th century and represents a unique example of early and pure Gothic architecture, almost untainted by the influence of later trends in architecture.

Almost any tourist route through the wonderful places of France passes through the ancient city Chartres, which is located on the picturesque banks of the Er River. And not only because it is located less than a hundred kilometers from the capital of France - the mysterious and beautiful Paris.

Chartres is most famous for its magnificent cathedral, listed in 1979 by the UNESCO Commission as a monument of architectural monument of particular historical value. Situated on a high hill, Chartres Cathedral perfectly visible from all sides, floating majestically in the haze above the city, and being its unique calling card and symbol.

What makes the ancient temple especially valuable is the fact that, built at the beginning of the 13th century, Chartres Cathedral has survived to this day almost unchanged, having happily survived the violent upheavals that have occurred in these places over many centuries. It seems that the cathedral was carefully guarded by providence or by high heavenly patrons. In any case, today's Notre-Dame de Chartres is a fine example of early and pure Gothic architecture, almost untainted by the influence of later movements in architecture. This fact, as well as the amazing beauty and grandeur of the temple itself, attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world to Chartres every year.

History of the temple

We can safely say that the prehistory of the construction of such a famous temple in Chartres began long before the official date of laying the first stone at its foundation. Back in the middle of the first millennium, on the site of the current cathedral there was a large Christian basilica, built on the ruins of a former pagan temple. The choice of such places for the construction of Christian churches had a deep sacred meaning and marked the victory of faith in the true God over the errors of the pagans.

And the Gallic Druids themselves, who had previously chosen the mountain to build their ritual dolmen complex, were guided by the extraordinary energy for which the mountain in Chartres was famous, as well as the healing waters of the spring that welled up from underground nearby. Thus, over time, Chartres became a real center of pilgrimage for Druids from all over Europe, as well as a place where they passed on the secrets of their magic to the younger generation.

However, the first catholic church, erected on Mount Chartres, did not have such a happy fate as its famous successor. During its existence, it was almost completely destroyed several times. In 734, after the sack of the city by the troops of one of the Dukes of Aquitaine, the temple was also burned. Less than a hundred years later, in 858, it was again almost completely destroyed by the warlike tribes of the Normans.

Just after the atrocities committed by the Vikings, the local bishop Gilbert decided to restore the church, significantly rebuilding and expanding it. The construction of the new cathedral, built in the Romanesque architectural style, lasted several decades, and it was at this time that the famous relic that glorified Chartres for centuries appeared in it - Veil of the Virgin Mary. According to legend, it was donated to the Charts Cathedral by the King of France, Charles II the Bald, and the shirt itself was part of the clothing that was worn by the Virgin Mary at the time of her birth of the Savior.

According to historians, at the time of the transfer of the Intercession to Bishop Gilbert, the piece of fabric was more than five meters long. However, during the turbulent times of the Great french revolution the rector of the cathedral ordered the shirt to be divided into several parts, which were then hidden in different places, hoping to save at least part Christian shrine from desecration by the raging mob.

Today, the Veil displayed in the temple is a piece of beige fabric, about 2 meters long and 46 centimeters wide. By the way, the Veil of the Virgin Mary first showed its miraculous properties already in 911, when hordes of restless Normans again appeared near Chartres. Then the city bishop Gentelme, after fervent prayer, brought the robe of the Virgin Mary to the city walls, as a result of which, as legend says, the undaunted Vikings took flight in panic.

After some time, their leader Rolf Walker believed and accepted the rite of baptism, receiving a new christian name Rollon. After marrying the daughter of King Charles the Simple of France, Rollon took possession of Normandy and became one of the vassals of the head of the Frankish state. A series of devastating fires became no less of a headache for the temple builders.

The first, which occurred in 962, left virtually no stone unturned from the religious building. The restoration of the temple was then entrusted to the architect Bernage, a famous architect at that time. Bernage himself made the unusual decision to build the towers of the new temple, as well as the western façade that united them, separately from the main body of the cathedral. This idea subsequently played a happy role in the fate of the temple, keeping the towers intact during the terrible fire of 1194, which destroyed not only the cathedral, but almost all of Chartres.

Another miracle, revealed by the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, is associated with this fire. Miraculously, the fire, which raged for three long days, did not damage the casket in which the Christian relic was kept, nor did it damage the clergy who guarded it.

The surviving priests accepted their miraculous salvation as a frank sign from the Heavenly Intercessor, who commanded them to immediately take up the construction of a new cathedral. It is this fact that can explain the unprecedented time for that time required for the construction of the new majestic Chartres Cathedral.

And so, just 31 years later, a majestic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary appeared in Chartres, which glorified this small French town throughout the world. Such an unprecedented pace of construction of the temple can still be explained a large number those wishing to take part in this charitable cause, and those arriving in Chartres from all over France. From the old Romanesque church, which survived the fire, all that remained was the western façade, the underground chapel and the famous “Royal Portal”, decorated with sculptural groups.

The most famous architects from Saint-Denis were invited to build the new cathedral, who successfully integrated the Romanesque elements of the old temple into the new Gothic appearance of the cathedral. The building blocks for the cathedral were cut from high-strength sandstone, which was mined in a quarry located near the city. By joint efforts, already in 1220 the new cathedral was covered with semicircular vaults, and five years later it had a choir with a gallery, a transverse transept and chapels.

Consecration of the cathedral, which received the name Notre-Dame de Chartres(Notre-Dame de Chartres), occurred in 1260 in the personal presence of King Louis IX of France, who bore the nickname “saint”. It was on his orders and at his personal expense that the famous stained glass rose window was made, decorated with the coats of arms of France and Castile, where the wife of Louis IX was from.

Architectural features of Notre-Dame de Chartres

Appearance

The Chartres Cathedral itself is shaped like a Latin cross, the base of which is just over 130 meters long. The vault of the main nave rises 37 meters above the floor and is more than 16 meters wide. Each of the two side naves is 8 meters wide and the height of the vaults is 14 meters. The cross shape of the cathedral is given by a transverse transept, the length of which is 65 meters, with a nave width of 46 meters. Moreover, each of its facades is equipped with three portals, which are richly decorated with sculptural groups belonging to the early Gothic style.

As has already been noted, the western facade of the temple is decorated with two majestic towers, differing from each other both in height and in architectural design. The northern tower, 113 meters high, is older and was built in the first half of the 12th century. At its base it has a Romanesque part, which only in the 16th century was crowned with a magnificent openwork stone tent, made in the bizarre style of the so-called “flaming Gothic”.

By the way, today it is open to access, so anyone can admire the magnificent views of Chartres from the height of the cathedral tower.

The South Tower, which was completed fifteen years after the North Tower, is 11 meters lower than its neighbor, and looks more restrained and strict. “Old Bell Tower”, as it is sometimes called South Tower, is designed in the same architectural style as the entire Chartres Cathedral, and is considered one of the most beautiful towers in the whole world.

The western façade of the cathedral, connecting both towers, is made in a heavy Romanesque style and contains three beautiful portals, which were cut into it a little later. The central tympanum, located above the main, so-called “royal portal”, is decorated with the famous sculptural composition “Christ in Glory”. At the same time, the Savior himself does not possess the traits of a strict judge, punishing humanity for its sins. On the contrary, he looks like a merciful teacher who wants to lead everyone to salvation.

Christ himself, blessing everyone with his raised hands, is surrounded by a host of saints, as well as winged fantastic animals. The arrangement of the sculptural groups is carefully thought out and has a deep symbolic meaning. So, let’s say, below, under the tympanums, there are sculptures of Old Testament characters and the ancestors of Christ, and on the very central and side tympanums are characters from the New Testament.

In this case, the spiritual connection between generations and the role of the ancient prophets, who through their asceticism prepared the coming of Christ the Savior into the world, are clearly visible. No less interesting is the relief located in the central portal of the southern facade of the temple. Dating from the very beginning of the 12th century, it is dedicated to an extremely intense painting Last Judgment, which awaits the world at the end of earthly history. This relief is deservedly considered the most striking example of medieval Gothic in the whole world.

An interesting feature of the sculptural figures standing on the central portal of the northern facade of the temple is the fact that, although they still have proportions typical of the Romanesque style (strict frontal appeal and some elongation of the figure), each of them already differs from the other in its individual features . The side portals of the same facade already contain entire sculptural compositions, united by a single biblical plot.

Internal splendor of the cathedral

The inside of Chartres Cathedral looks no less stunning than the outside. Its unusually huge choir, which had to accommodate a large number of singers, led to the need to move the altar part deeper into the apse (the semicircular architectural element of the temple building). The same choirs required the expansion of the transept into three naves. However, such an innovation only enhanced the internal splendor of the temple, making it more spacious and airy.

The supports of the vaults look original and unusual, having the form of cylindrical pillars reinforced on four sides with semicircular columns. The vaults and arches of the temple themselves have a pointed shape typical of Gothic architecture.

It should be said that Notre-Dame de Chartres has great amount carved figures. Together with outdoor sculptures, it has more than 10 thousand sculptures made of different materials. Only in the strikingly large central altar, which was created over two centuries, one can count more than forty scenes from the life of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, made by talented wood carvers.

The famous labyrinth, located in the central part of the temple, and representing an original pattern laid out of multi-colored stone. The labyrinth is a circle with a diameter of almost 13 meters and a path length of 261 meters. Moreover, the length of the labyrinth, which in the temple books is called nothing less than “The Path to Jerusalem,” personifies long haul sinful soul to salvation, and is equal to the way of the cross of Christ himself to Golgotha.

Therefore, previously, pilgrims who did not have the opportunity to visit the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem could symbolically walk on their knees through the entire labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral, while reading prayers of repentance.

Notre-Dame de Chartres was brought no less fame by its unusual "rose windows" made in the original stained glass style.

Placed at an extreme height above the central nave of the temple, and having a diameter of about 5 meters, these multi-colored glass roses appear to be huge light circles, throwing multi-colored lightning bolts inside the temple. Moreover, the stained glass glazing, which in this temple has been preserved almost unchanged since the end of the 12th century, is the largest ensemble that has survived to our time. Its total area is a fantastic 2000 square meters. m.! Let us recall that the art of stained glass, that is, the creation of stacked windows from multi-colored pieces of glass, appeared during the triumph of the Romanesque architectural style. However, it reached its true peak during the Gothic period.

The stained glass windows of Chartres are distinguished by their particular purity of colors and the wide range of themes depicted on them. Along with traditional biblical compositions, you can see about a hundred scenes describing the life of knights, dignitaries and even ordinary artisans of that time. In general, all segments of the population who donated their money for the construction of the temple. In total, the cathedral has 146 stained glass openings, describing 1359 different storylines.

Shrines of Notre-Dame de Chartres

In all centuries, Chartres Cathedral has attracted numerous pilgrims under its arches not only from France, but also from all over Europe.

Besides the famous Protection of the Virgin Mary Until the middle of the 18th century, one could see in it the image of St. righteous Anna- the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as a wooden figurine depicting the Virgin Mary during the period of bearing the Savior. By the way, this carved statue is considered one of the most ancient images of the Virgin Mary, which most likely dates back to the very first centuries of the triumph of Christianity on French soil.

Moreover, some historians even suggest that this figurine dates back to the pre-Christian period and was carved pagan priests impressed by the visions they received while performing their rites. The sculpture itself perished in the fire of the Great French Revolution.

The cover of the Virgin Mary, stored in the cathedral, was subsequently subjected to numerous examinations, which clearly determined the time of manufacture of the fabric - the 1st century AD. Of course, this does not serve as irrefutable proof that it belongs to the Mother of God, but, at the same time, it fully allows for such a possibility. Be that as it may, numerous miracles associated with this relic attract hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world to Chartres Cathedral.

Another of the most mysterious secrets of Notre-Dame de Chartres is the use by its builders of the famous "golden ratio", that is, a proportion of 1:1.618, which is considered the most harmonious and has amazing abilities to influence human perception. Whether it happened by chance by the builders, or whether it was the fruit of a brilliant idea at that time, one thing can be said for sure - from ancient times to our time, Notre-Dame de Chartres has been one of the most amazing masterpieces of architectural art of the Middle Ages.

Even in our time, it makes everyone who examines its features, regardless of the level of education and development of spiritual qualities, freeze in silent awe of the greatness of the talent and skill of the ancient architects.

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The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Chartres is also called the “Glass Bible”. You can get to it by train, the journey will take no more than an hour. Chartres is a quiet provincial town that attracts tourists with its narrow streets, old houses, arched bridges. Once you have visited here, you will never forget the buildings in the spirit of Roman rule and the magnificent views of the city canal. You get the feeling that you are in medieval Europe.

The main attraction of Chartres

The attraction that all tourists want to see and visit is the Cathedral of Our Lady. You can find it yourself by its tall, sharp spire, which is visible anywhere in the city.

This cathedral was built on the site of a sanctuary of Celtic priests; its history dates back to the 8th century, when an altar in honor of St. Mary of Chartres was built on this site. According to historical data, at the end of the 8th century the Shroud of the Virgin Mary appeared here, considered a precious relic of Christians. To this day, many parishioners of this cathedral come to venerate this unique relic and venerate it.

History of the Shroud of the Virgin Mary

Local residents know that the shroud appeared in Chartres at a time when King Charles II the Bald reigned in France. He donated it to the temple of the city of Chartres. The value of the shroud is inestimable, because ancient legend says that it was the Virgin Mary who was dressed in it at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ.

This is also proven by the miraculous rescue of the relic in 1194, when there was a terrible fire in the city that destroyed the cathedral in Chartres. The Shroud at that moment was in the casket, which miraculously remained intact and unharmed, which is considered a miraculous sign from above.

Undoubtedly, one of the largest and perhaps most mysterious esoteric symbols of Chartres Cathedral is the Labyrinth. This circular figure, composed of black and white slabs, occupies about a third of the floor of the nave; unfortunately, most of it is usually closed by rows of benches. The guidebook says that walking through the Labyrinth barefoot or on your knees was a form of punishment and provided a kind of indulgence, which in the Middle Ages was the equivalent of a “respite for good behavior” from the prison of hell. The guidebook also says that the passage through the Labyrinth symbolized and replaced the act of pilgrimage. Reaching the center of the Labyrinth meant reaching the Holy City of Jerusalem. I do not consider any of these interpretations to be credible, since a number of Neolithic labyrinths with similar designs have been discovered elsewhere, and it would be foolish to claim that such labyrinths were intended to obtain indulgences from the Pope or serve as symbols of pilgrimage to the Holy City.

The first time I saw the entire Labyrinth was on a visit to the cathedral in the early 1990s with colleague Ray Peake. That same day, on the way to the port of Roscoff, we spent several hours at a folk festival in the small town of Breton.

At the height of the fun, the host of the festival announced that it was time to dance, and the musicians took the stage: one with a medieval drum, another with a fakir’s flute, the third had a strange bagpipe in his hands, the analogue of which I had never seen before, a guitarist brought up the rear of this group. Their music was easy to remember, it was both familiar and foreign. An Arabic melody sounded - slow, unobtrusive, rhythmic and enchanting. The mayor of the city and his wife led the dance. They held hands, pressed closely to each other, and moved sideways from side to side along a confusing trajectory, then the rest of the population of the town gradually joined the dance: children, adults and elderly people. And then I realized that with their movements the dancers were drawing a certain pattern, similar to the ornate design of the Chartres Labyrinth. The dance we observed most likely originated from a traditional Sufi dance that served to switch consciousness.

I later learned that the Labyrinth at Chartres was indeed intended as a path for a rhythmic ritual dance. Walking on sacred slabs had to be done barefoot, so that the feet were in direct contact with the stone, which in the Middle Ages served as an accumulator for the energy flows of the earth. On the days of the equinox celebration, when the energy of the earth pulsated most noticeably, the bishop himself led the people through the Labyrinth in a ritual dance. It is noteworthy that the very process of movement of a group of believers through the Labyrinth further enhances the influence of the energy forces of the earth.

The first time I saw the Labyrinth, I walked through it with three different groups - once in the afternoon with a group from the American Edgar Cayce Foundation and twice in the evening by candlelight. Both evening passages made a strong impression on me.

After all three passages, I dowsed over the Labyrinth and found out that after the group completed the passage, the energy forces in the center increased significantly. Therefore, it is likely that those who reached the center of the Labyrinth on the days of the equinox were internally changed. And every time I walked along this mystical path, I experienced strong feeling spiritual openness, I was visited by a feeling of divine harmony. Symbolically speaking, there are two different approaches to the "spiritual path": one symbolizes a pilgrimage, the second - a passage through a labyrinth. In the first case, a person undertakes a journey in time and space, through sacred lands, in the second, a person moves ritually, physically and spiritually inside the labyrinth, towards a calm and motionless center. The labyrinth is truly the largest symbolic element of Chartres Cathedral. He had special meaning for its creators. This is not just a giant symbol - it is a tool designed to change consciousness. Here's what the researchers write: "The large rose stained glass window on the west facade not only matches the size of the Labyrinth, but if placed on top of the labyrinth, the stained glass window will completely cover it." Why? Who knows... Medieval masters keep their secrets to this day.

From all that has been said, we can conclude that Chartres Cathedral is not just a prayer carved in stone and a monument to medieval Christian beliefs, but also a hymn to secret spiritual teaching, a manual for initiates, carved in stone, encoded in traditional Christian symbols. Regardless of your beliefs, Christian or heretical, the iconography of Chartres performs the miracle of transformation in exactly the way that best suits your strengths, weaknesses and spiritual needs.

My colleague Gordon Strahan, in his book on Chartres Cathedral, poses two questions. First: does the cathedral have its own own aura, resonating with the human? And second: is this the reason why the cathedral has an impact on us? I would answer yes in both cases. Over the past decades, many researchers have been wrestling with the issue of the unusual orientation of Chartres Cathedral to the cardinal points. Overwhelming majority Christian churches and cathedrals are traditionally oriented to the east. But not Chartres. It is tilted 47 degrees north. It should be noted that this location was not chosen by Fulbert, the philosophers of the Chartres mystical school or the Templars - this location was chosen since the appearance of the first Christian temple. There are several plans for the various churches and cathedrals that were built on the sacred hill of Chartres in different times, and they all fit like nesting dolls one into the other, starting with ancient temples to modern. This arrangement may be a legacy of an ancient Neolithic structure, differing only three degrees from the orientation of Stonehenge and less than five degrees from the summer solstice orientation. There is a free-standing stone in the west wing of the south transept. For what? One can only assume that this is somehow connected with the mysterious position of the cathedral.

In a small town like Chartres, which has retained the scale of a medieval low town, you better understand what the cathedral meant to the townspeople. It was the center of the city, the place where everyone gathered and the building in which people had the opportunity to experience the beauty of art and the wisdom of biblical texts. Architecture, sculpture, stained glass, music - all this created a magical effect.
Fate was favorable to the Chartres Cathedral; it was preserved without alterations and conveyed to us the integral appearance of the Gothic temple.
Its finished structure stands on the eve of the heyday of classical French Gothic. The Chartres Cathedral was created by people who worked with enthusiasm, faith and sincere inspiration. He is an example of the worldview of various layers of French society, mainly the first half of the 12th century.

Despite the fact that construction managers replaced each other, the general plan was maintained throughout the entire construction. It always amazes me how cathedrals could be built over several centuries and still preserve the original architect's intentions. Cologne Cathedral It took 500 years to build, but it looks like a solid structure, as if it had grown by the wave of the right hand of God, so everything in it is subordinated to a single idea.
Unity and completeness are also characteristic of Chartres Cathedral. It was built from very durable sandstone, mined in the quarries of Bercher, which is eight kilometers from Chartres. Some stones in the lower parts of the building reach two to three meters in length and one meter in height. You can imagine their transportation. The cathedral was erected by craftsmen invited to Chartres from Saint-Denis.
Chartres Cathedral is dedicated to the holy virgin and was especially revered, apparently because the place on which it stood was a place of pilgrimage back in the pagan era; a sacred spring flowed here. The practice of building temples is quite common; many Christian basilicas in Rome were built on the site, and sometimes on the foundations, of ancient temples. The source was preserved in the cellars of the cathedral, as was the ancient statue of the Black Mary. Another, more revered relic was the reliquary with the miraculous shirt of the virgin. No one saw her, since the reliquary did not open. It was discovered only during the French Revolution: it contained Syrian fabric and a bedspread decorated with images of lions, according to experts, from the first century AD. In 876, Charles II the Bald, grandson of Charlemagne, gave the bishop the chemise of the Virgin Mary, which she wore at the birth of Christ. The sacred relic of Christians - the veil (hematium) of the Mother of God (a fragment of beige silk fabric) is exhibited in the chapel of the Sacred Heart of Mary, located in the northern part of the choir bypass.
As in other places that attracted pilgrims, the buildings different eras replaced each other. The Christian basilica of the 4th century was replaced by another building; the cathedral, erected in the 11th century, remained for a long time. On September 5, 1134, a fire devastated the city, but the cathedral was not damaged. Apparently the bell tower burned down. Soon the construction of two towers began. The northern one was completed by 1150, the southern one by 1170 mu. Between 1145 and 1150, construction and decoration of a new western facade began, linking the two towers. This is the so-called "royal" portal, completed by 1155.

The 12th century craftsmen determined the character of the western façade. Above the central portal, slightly cut into the thickness of the wall and therefore perfectly lit, there are tall, shallow windows with a semicircular end. Above them is a rose from the early 13th century.

The central part of the façade is crowned by the “Gallery of Kings” from the early 14th century.
The decor of the "royal portal" dates back to the mid-12th century. The gates are framed by pillars in the form of human figures, a technique that developed in Romanesque times and shows how the sculptor obeyed the requirements of architecture.

Towers rise to the right and left, the northern one, the earlier one, is topped by a 16th-century arrow, erected by Jacques Texier between 1507 and 1513.

The southern boom was built along with a tower, which is 80 centimeters thick at the base and 30 centimeters thick at the top. That is, the craftsmen well understood that the tower below had to be more powerful in order to withstand the load of a high stone wall. For centuries it endured vibrations from the swinging of huge bells, withstood storms and survived.

On the night of June 9-10, 1194, a new fire destroyed the old cathedral, but the façade and crypt were preserved. Neither the church's builders nor the relic were damaged in the fire, which added to the zeal of the cathedral's builders.
The new building retained old plan, but the walls were already more powerful and new constructive solutions were laid during the construction of the nave, which was completed by 1210. By 1220 the temple was covered with vaults.
Flying buttresses were already provided for by the architect in the plan. They weren't moved far

In general, the appearance of the building is not devoid of unity; buttresses and flying buttresses did not disturb its solidity.

The design of the wall, which was developed during the Gothic period to such an extent that later, during its heyday, a system of transverse buttresses and semi-arches - flying buttresses, distributed the loads and leveled the overturning moment (for those who studied the strength of materials) so that the wall practically ceased to be load-bearing and turned into stained glass lace , similar to the Saint-Chapelle chapel in Paris: http://vita-colorata.livejournal.com/100790.html Here the cathedral has not yet completely lost its Romanesque power and tectonicity.

The buttresses on which the flying buttresses rest are decorated with statues.

The cathedral from the altar side.

The facades of the transept porticoes gave the building a unique, I would even say French, elegance.

The abutments of the southern portal are richly covered with bas-reliefs. Both the northern and southern portals are decorated with sculpture. The southern portico is especially interesting because it subsequently created a repeating shape of the side façade and became a prototype for many cathedrals. A special feature of Chartres Cathedral are the very thin columns of the upper floor, which create a vibrating surface of the wall.

Northern façade with a chapel on which a clock has been preserved.