CATHEDRAL OFCHARTRE’S

CHARTRES
CATHEDRAL
 GENERAL INFORMATION
 The Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres- one of the
finest example of French Gothic architecture
 Located in Chartres, about 80 km (50 mi) southwest
of Paris
 The cathedral was the most important building in the
town of Chartres.
 In the Middle Ages, the cathedral functioned
sometimes as a marketplace, with the different
portals of the basilica selling different items.
Chartres was designed as a pilgrimage church
with broad aisles, doubled in the choir for
easy circulation and enormous aisled
transepts.
The aisles are of equal height.
All vaults are quadripartite.
In the original design, the exterior was
supposed to have seven towers, including a
crossing tower.


CONSTRUCTION OF
THE CATHEDRAL

The cathedral at Chartres was

built in phases over many
years. 
 Geometry was used in the planning of the
cathedral.
 After the fire of 1194, all that was left was a
portion of the North tower, the South tower,
the west portal of 1134, the apse and the
crypt.
ARCHITECTURAL
DETAILS
PLAN
N
 130 M

46 M
16.4 M
28 M 32 M

A’
 FEATURES
 length: 130 m
 width: 32/46 m
 nave: height 36 meters
 width 16.4 m
 Ground area: 10,875 square meter.
 The plan is cruciform, with a 28 m long nave, and
short transepts to the south and north.
 The east end is rounded with an ambulatory which
has five semi-circular chapels radiating from it.






Radiating chapels

 The cathedral extensively used flying buttresses in its
original plan, and these supported the weight of the
extremely high vaults, at the time of being built, the
highest in France.
 The High Gothic cathedral at Chartres used 4 rib
vaults in a rectangular space, instead of 6 in a
square pattern, as in earlier Gothic cathedrals such
as at Laon.
 The skeletal system of supports, from the compound
piers all the way up to the springing and transverse
and diagonal ribs, allowed large spaces of the
cathedral to be free for stained glass work, as well
as a towering height
 POINTED ARCHES
SECTION A-A’

Flying
butresses

36 M

NAVE

SIDE
AISLE SIDE
AISLE
EXTERIOR
DETAILS
 CROSSING

3-D


VIEW
 FLYING BUTRESSES
CLERESTORY
WINDOW

NAVE

SOUTHERN
WESTERN FACADE
FACADE
 WEST END
SPIRE

ROSE WINDOW 105M

113 M

NORTH SOUTH
TOWER TOWER
Height of south-west tower: 105
meters
Height of north-west tower: 113
meters.
176 stained-glass windows
All around the outside are complex
flying buttresses.

 PORCHES
 On the doors and porches, medieval
carvings of statues holding swords,
crosses, books and trade tools parade
adorn the portals.

The sculptures on the west façade
depict Christ's ascension into
heaven, episodes from his life,
saints, apostles, Christ in the lap of
Mary and other religious scenes.
Below the religious figures are
statues of kings and queens,

South porch, from west
north porch, from west
 TOWERS
 The cathedral has two
contrasting spires —
 -one, a 105 m
plain pyramid dating
from the 1140s (north
tower)
 -the other a 113
m tall early 16th
century( south tower).

south tower

north tower
 FLYING BUTTRESS

The cathedral
has flying
buttresses on
all sides other
than the
western front.
INTERIOR
DETAILS
 NAVE AND AISLES
 The spacious nave stands 36 m
high. It is surrounded by aisles on
both sides.
The roof of the nave has 4 ribbed
vaults in a rectangular space
(QUADRIPARTITE
VAULTING).
 Clustered columns rise
dramatically from
plain bases to the high
pointed arches of the
ceiling, directing the
eye to the massive
clerestory windows in
the apse.

The spectacular nave of Chartres Cathedral,looking


west

aisles
nave
 CROSSING
A large crossing tower is particularly common on English Gothic cathedrals.
 WINDOWS

 The cathedral has three large

 rose windows:
-one on the west front with a theme of
The Last Judgment,
-one on the north transept with a theme
of the Glorification of the Virgin,
-and one on the south transept with a
theme of the Glorification of Christ.
 WEST FAÇADE ROSE WINDOW
 exterior view interior view
 NORTH TRANSEPT WINDOW
 WINDOWS
 Chartres is noted for its many large
stained glass windows.
 Of the original 186 stained glass
windows, 152 survive.
 The windows are particularly
renowned for their vivid blue colour,
especially in a representation of the
Madonna and Child known as the
Blue Virgin Window, a traditional
iconography known as the Seat of
Wisdom. The Jesse Tree window is
another noted window at Chartres.
 LABYRINTH
 Towards the eastern end of the nave, the stone floor
of the cathedral bears its ancient floor labyrinth
(1205),
 used for walking contemplation by monks and still
used for meditation by pilgrims.
 There is just one path through the labyrinth and it is
964 feet long.
 The circumference of the labyrinth is 131 feet,
almost exactly the same size as the West Rose
window.
 LABYRINTH

CLASSIC LABYRINTH
COMPILED BY
TAMANNA
PAWAR
B. Arch student
ASAP
Batch 2009-14
Amity University