At the crossroads between Brittany, Normandy and the Loire Valley, the two steeples of the Chartres Cathedral rise majestically from the Beauce Plain like a mirage.

Towers of Cathédrale de Chartres and west façade : North and South Towers. In 1134, a fire damaged the town, and perhaps part of the cathedral. The north tower was started immediately afterwards – the south tower some time later. From the beginning, it was intended that these towers flank a central porch of some sort and a narthex. When the north tower rose to the level of the second storey, the south was begun – the evidence lies in the profiles and in the masons marks on the two levels of the two towers. Between them on the first level, a chapel was constructed to Saint Michael. Traces of the vaults and the shafts which supported them are still visible in the western two bays. This chapel was probably vaulted, and those vaults saved the western glass. The stained glass in the three lancets over the portals date from some time between 1145 and 1155, while the south spire, some 103 metres high, was also completed by 1155 or later.

Done