Iconic Buildings: Chartres Cathedral

The first time I walked into Chartres Cathedral, the interior was so dark I felt shivers down my spine—which may sound odd, given that it's famous for its windows, which frame the most complete set of medieval stained glass in the world. Each window depicts scenes from the Old and New Testament but they also include scenes from everyday life in the 1200s, an invaluable and extraordinary record. The building itself was finished within an astonishing 30 years after a fire devastated the whole town in 1194 and therefore we see a coherent design rather than the usual hotchpotch of styles familiar in other cathedrals.

The building houses the Camisola Sanctis, a garment said to have been worn by Mary when she gave birth to Jesus, and that made it a major pilgrimage site. This explains why it was designed with the nave sloping back to the entrance door—so that the mess left by pilgrims who slept there could be efficiently sluiced out. It also means that there's not a single tomb within the place—it's a cathedral celebrating life.

Along with its magnificent medieval glass and the first proper use of the flying buttress, it invited scrutiny for the great number of symbols which honour the Earth as much as heaven. Even the twin towers are named after the sun and the moon. Like many cathedrals, it sits on a site that had been used in pre-Christian times and then adapted for Christian use.

A well deep in its crypt (the largest in France) was sealed by an abbott when it became famous for its supposedly magical powers. The floor of the nave contains a huge circular labyrinth made from white and blue stone, the same size as the great rose window that overlooks it. Walking these labyrinths, which are found in other Gothic cathedrals, is supposed to represent the winding path of life or the road to Jerusalem, but many people have noted the precise way the midsummer sun hits its centre. Here, they say, is where powerful ley lines cross, creating a healing energy. This is sacred geometry in action.

I mentioned the darkness of the interior, but that's changed. In the past five years the effects of centuries of candle smoke have been removed and the walls now look just at they did in 1260. The gloom has gone and now a crisp and brightly-painted interior vies with the vivid blues and greens and yellows of the stained glass windows. I'll reserve judgement until I'm next there, but I can't help wondering if some of that old magic might have gone, pagan or not.

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