Chartres is a city southwest of Paris, a modern city with an ancient history and cathedral, Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Chartres. The current cathedral was built between 1194 and 1250, and is the last of at least five which have occupied the site since the 4th century. Most of the stained glass windows have survived, and were removed for safety during both World Wars. The three great facades are adorned with hundreds of sculpted figures representing theological themes and stories.
The relic claimed by Chartres is the Sancta Camisa, the tunic worn by Mary at Christ's birth. Relics were essential to the cathedrals, as pilgrims were drawn to them by hopes of seeing a holy relic.
The Chartres labyrinth is the most famous in the world. Forty feet across, this and other labyrinths represent a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which many pilgrims through the years were unable to make. Today, throughout the world labyrinths have been constructed and used as means of meditation and prayer. Labyrinths differ from mazes in that a labyrinth has one way in and one way out; you cannot get lost. The Chartres labyrinth was covered by the refurbishment currently underway, but in 2009 it was available for us to walk. This photo is from that visit.
Major restoration was underway when we visited this time and has been going on since we were last there in 2009, to be completed next year. The interior is being painted a creamy white to make it look as it would have in the 13th century. Controversial among many, but the cathedral's greatest expert and tour leader Malcolm Miller dismisses the objections, saying that the cathedral was intended to be light and has been aged by candle smoke and oil fired central heating, and even some internal fires.
In the pictures below, you can distinguish between the light and the dark (which is a metaphor in itself).
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