The Notre Dame De Chartres Cathedral is located in Northwestern France in a small town known as Chartres. Chartres is about 80 kilometers from the French Capital, Paris (Pierre 1). Chartres is a market town with many manufacturing firms. This building is in the French Gothic architectural style. It is famous not only for the many sculptures that it has but also on the extent to which it captures innovation.
In terms of historical context, the building was built during the early Middle Ages in 1194 after fires had ravaged other previous cathedral in which the Sancta Camisia- Virgin Mary’s veil was housed (Watkin 154; Pierre 1). The Cathedral was built at a time of rapport between the Kings of France and the Pope. The period had great technological advancements and innovations.
Culturally, the building incorporates cultural traditions that give value to number and proportion as underpinning building blocks of creation as copied from God (Harvey 37). It uses the same principles captured in the Great Pyramids and Stonehenge.
The Chartres Cathedral was built from donations by wealthy noblemen and merchants from different parts of France (Watkin 154). These people contributed because of the Cathedral’s great religious value. The builders inscribed the names of the main donors on the walls of the cathedral. The Catholics kept the Biblical Virgin Mary’s veil in the treasury inside the building. People from all walks of life made pilgrimages to the Cathedral for worship.
The Chartres Cathedral is oriented east, based on the fact that Christians viewed sunrise as symbolic of resurrection (Sparavigna 7). As such, it faces the sun and is built at an altitude of 140m, rising above the surrounding landscape. It has a height of nave of 121 feet and an overall length of 430 feet (Abelard.org 1).
The Cathedral appears more monumental than surrounding buildings and is set apart by its Gothic architectural features of magnificent stained windows, great size, a 377-foot tall spire, and an 118 foot-high nave (Pierre 1). It has a grand entrance, the “Royal” portal with religious figures of Christ, Mary, saints, and apostles (Pierre 1).
It hovers around the surrounding relatively flat area. It appears to jut upward from the surrounding topography. Although the area on which it stands is higher than the surrounding, from a distance, the surrounding area looks relatively flat. The materials seem to blend in with the surrounding because of the visual patina they have developed with age.
Works Cited
Abelard.org, "Cathedral Plans, And Facts | France Zone At Abelard.Org." Abelard.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
Carolina Sparavigna, Amelia. "The Solar Orientation Of The Gothic Cathedrals Of France".ijSciences 0.04 (2014): 6-11. Web.
Harvey, John, The Gothic World 1100-1600, A Survey of Architecture and Art, B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1950.
Pierre, "Chartres Cathedral - French Moments." French Moments. N.p., 2012. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
Watkin, David. A History of Western Architecture. London: Laurence King, 2005. Print.
