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Chartres

 
Dictionary: Char·tres   (shärt, shär'trə) pronunciation
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Chartres

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A city of northern France southwest of Paris. Its 13th-century cathedral is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture noted for its stained glass and asymmetrical spires. Population: 39,800.

 

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Chartres
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City (pop., 1999: 40,361), northwestern France. Situated on the Eure River southwest of Paris, it was the capital and centre of Druidic worship for the Carnutes, a Celtic tribe. The Normans attacked and burned the city in 858. In the Middle Ages it was held by the counts of Blois and Champagne. The city was sold to France in 1286 and was occupied by the English from 1417 to 1432. Henry IV was crowned there in 1594. The Germans held it in 1870, and it was severely damaged in World War II. Landmarks include the Gothic Chartres Cathedral.

For more information on Chartres, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Chartres
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Chartres (shär'trə), city (1990 pop. 41,850), capital of Eure-et-Loir dept., NW France, in Orléanais, on the Eure River. Chartres is of great historic and artistic interest; it is also a regional market with many industries, including metallurgy, and the production of perfumes and electronic equipment. An ancient town, it was the probable site of the great assemblies of the druids. The Normans burned it in 858. During the Middle Ages Chartres was the seat of a countship; it became a possession of the French crown in 1286. Francis I made it a duchy in 1528. Chartres' fame today stems largely from its magnificent Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame (12th to 13th cent.), remarkable for its two spires (375 ft/114 m and 350 ft/107 m), its stained glass windows, and its superb sculpture. It is widely considered to be the finest Gothic cathedral in the world. Henry Adams in Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres made it a symbol of the medieval spirit. Inside the cathedral St. Bernhard of Clairvaux preached the Second Crusade (1146) and Henry IV was crowned king of France (1594).

Fine Arts Dictionary: Chartres, Cathedral of
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(shahrt, shahr-truh)

A great cathedral in France. Built mostly in the thirteenth century, it is considered one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture. The stained-glass windows, in which blue glass predominates, are especially impressive.

Wikipedia: Chartres
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This article is about the city in France. For the settlement in the Falkland Islands, see Chartres, Falkland Islands.

Coordinates: 48°27′21″N 1°29′03″E / 48.455847°N 1.484184°E / 48.455847; 1.484184

Commune of Chartres
Chartres 1987.jpg
Distant view of Chartres and its cathedral
Location
Chartres is located in France
Chartres
Administration
Country France
Region Centre
Department Eure-et-Loir
Arrondissement Chartres
Intercommunality Chartres Métropole
Mayor Jean-Pierre Gorges
(2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation 121–161 m (400–530 ft)
(avg. 142 m/470 ft)
Land area1 16.85 km2 (6.51 sq mi)
Population2 40,361  (1999)
 - Density 2,395 /km2 (6,200 /sq mi)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 28085/ 28000
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Chartres (French pronunciation: [ʃaʀtʀ]) is a town and commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in north-central France It is located 96 km (60 mi) southwest of Paris in central France.

Contents

Geography

Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country. To the south-east stretches the fruitful plain of Beauce, the "granary of France", of which the town is the commercial centre.

History

Chartres was one of the principal towns of the Carnutes, and by the Romans was called Autricum, from the river Autura (Eure), and afterwards civitas Carnutum. The name "Chartres" derives from "Carnutes". It was burnt by the Normans in 858, and unsuccessfully besieged by them in 911.

During the Middle Ages it was the chief town of Beauce, and gave its name to a countship which was held by the counts of Blois and Champagne and afterwards by the house of Chatillon, a member of which in 1286 sold it to the crown. It was raised to the rank of a duchy in 1528 by Francis I. After the time of Louis XIV the title of duke of Chartres was hereditary in the family of Orleans.

In 1417 it fell into the hands of the English, from whom it was recovered in 1432. It became seat of a Duchy in 1528. During the Wars of Religion, it was attacked unsuccessfully by the Protestants in 1568, and was taken in 1591 by Henry IV, who was crowned there three years afterwards.

In the Franco-Prussian War it was seized by the Germans on 2 October 1870, and continued during the rest of the Campaign an important centre of operations.

The city suffered heavy damage by bombing in the course of World War II.

Main sights

Cathedrals and churches

Cathedral of Chartres.
The famous "Chartres blue"

The town is best known for the Cathedral of Chartres (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), widely considered to be the finest gothic cathedral in France. Its historical and cultural importance is recognized by its inclusion on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Its construction started in 1205, following the destruction of the old cathedral of Chartres. Construction took 66 years.

The Cathedral.

The abbey church of St Pierre[1] , dating chiefly from the thirteenth century, contains, besides some fine stained glass, twelve representations of the apostles in enamel, created about 1547 by Léonard Limosin. Of the other churches of Chartres also noteworthy are St Aignan (13th, 16th and 17th centuries) and St Martin-au-Val (twelfth century).

The surrounding city financed the stained glass windows.

Museums

  • Musée des Beaux-Arts, fine arts museum (located near the Cathedral of Chartres) housed in the former episcopal palace.
  • Le Grenier de l'Histoire Musée, history museum specializing in military uniforms and accoutrements.
  • Le Centre International du Vitrail, a workshop-museum and cultural center devoted to stained glass art.
  • Muséum de sciences naturelles et de la préhistoire, Natural Science and Prehistory Museum
  • Conservatoire du Machinisme et des Pratiques Agricoles, an agricultural museum

Others

The Eure River, which at this point divides into three branches, is crossed by several bridges, some of them ancient, and is fringed in places by remains of the old fortifications, of which the Porte Guillaume (14th century), a gateway flanked by towers, is the most complete specimen. The steep, narrow streets of the old town contrast with the wide, shady boulevards which encircle it and divide it from the suburbs. The Cbs St Jean, a pleasant park, lies to the north-west, and squares and open spaces are numerous.

The hotel de ville, a building of the 17th century, containing a museum and library, an older hotel de ville of the 13th century, and several medieval and Renaissance houses, are of interest. There is a statue of General F. S. Marceau-Desgraviers (b. 1769), a native of the town.

  • La Maison Picassiette, a house decorated inside and out with mosaics of chards of broken china and pottery

Economy

Chartres is one of the most important market towns in the region of Beauce (known as "the granary of France").

The game pies and other delicacies of Chartres are well known, and the industries also include flour-milling, brewing, distilling, iron-founding, leather manufacture, perfumes, dyeing, and the manufacture of electronic equipments, car accessories, stained glass, billiard requisites and hosiery.

Sport

Chartres is home to two semi-professional association football clubs; FC Chartres, who play in the French sixth division, and HB Chartres, who play in the seventh tier.

Diocese

Main article: Diocese of Chartres

The town is the seat of a bishop, a prefecture, a court of assizes, and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a chamber of commerce, training colleges, a high school for boys, a communal college for girls, and a branch of the Bank of France.

Pilgrimages

Chartres has been a site of Christian pilgrimage since the Middle Ages. The poet Charles Péguy (1873-1914) revived the pilgrimage route between Paris and Chartres before the First World War. After the war, some students carried on the pilgrimage in his memory. Since the 1980s, the association Notre-Dame de Chrétienté <http://www.nd-chretiente.com>, with offices in Versailles, has organized the annual 100 km (62 mi) pilgrimage on foot from the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris to the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres. About 15,000 pilgrims, mostly young families from all over France, participate every year.

Bishops

Notable bishops of Chartres:

Notable people

Chartres was the birthplace of:

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Twin towns - Sister cities

Chartres is twinned with:

Gallery

17th-Century engraving of Chartres "skyline"

The Cathedral of Chartres

The Apostles and Saint Sculptures of Chartres

The Old Town - River Eure

Half-timbered house in the Old Town

Hill of St. François

View south from the Cathedral

References

  1. ^ http://www.wannabi.com/chartres12.jpg
  2. ^ "Twinning with Palestine". © 1998-2008 The Britain - Palestine Twinning Network. http://www.twinningwithpalestine.net/groupsinternational.html. Retrieved 2008-11-29. 
  3. ^ "::Bethlehem Municipality::". www.bethlehem-city.org. http://www.bethlehem-city.org/Twining.php. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  4. ^ "Ciudades Hermanas (Sister Cities)" (in Spanish). Municipalidad del Cusco. http://www.municusco.gob.pe/ver.php?id=6. Retrieved 2009-09-23. 

External links

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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Fine Arts Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Chartres".  Read more