Chartres Cathedral
The Chartres Cathedral, in Chartres, France, near Paris, is one of the foremost examples of High Gothic architecture. It has been imitated widely for its innovations in architecture, sculpture and stained glass. A day trip to Chartres by train to see the famous cathedral is well worth the effort. It is also a pleasant change-of-pace from busy sightseeing in Paris. The train trip from Paris’ Gare Montparnasse takes just over an hour, and the cathedral is about a 10-minute walk from the Chartres train station. An earlier cathedral on the same site was mostly destroyed by fire in 1194. The current cathedral was started the same year and largely completed by 1220, although various additions were made for several hundred years after that. Chartres Cathedral is well known for its more that 150 stained glass windows, most of which are original from the 13th century. They cover a surface area of over 21,500 square feet (2,000 square meters). The following is a view of the West and North façades of the cathedral as seen on the walk from the train station. The taller of the two spires is 377 feet high (113 meters). The cathedral dominates the city of Chartres.
The next photo shows a closer view of the West façade. 
Excellent guided tours of the cathedral are conducted by Malcolm Miller, an interesting English scholar. He moved to Chartres about 50 years ago after writing a college thesis about the Chartres Cathedral, and he has made his study of the cathedral and conducting tours there his life work. His 75-minute, 10-euros tour starts at 12:00 noon and 2:45 p.m., Monday-Saturday. No advance tickets are necessary – just show up. Taking photos is not allowed during the tour, but click here to see 38 enlargable photos (exterior and interior) of the cathedral. For history and details about the Chartres Cathedral,
click here.
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