Chartres

Chartres, southwest of Paris, is the cathedral of Our Lady on a hill that has held a bishop's church since the fourth century. In 876 Charles the Bald presented the Sancta Camisa, held to be the Virgin Mary's tunic, and pilgrims began to converge on the town. Bishop Fulbert rebuilt after the fire of 1020 and made Chartres a leading cathedral school.

Fire struck again in 1194, leaving the crypt, towers and Royal Portal; the High Gothic cathedral rose between 1194 and 1220, with stained glass, flying buttresses and a floor labyrinth. It was reconsecrated in 1260 before King Louis IX.

During the French Revolution the church became state property and worship was suspended, but townspeople protected the sculpture and a local architect dissuaded the revolutionary committee from blowing the building up. It survived until services resumed under Napoleon.