Chartres Cathedral, France.
Photo Credit: Radu Razvan
Illustration: SHUTTERSTOCK
English: Northern Rose Window of Chartres Cathedral.
The Rose depicts T
he Glorification of The Virgin Mary, surrounded by
Angels,
Twelve Kings of Juda (David, Solomon, Abijam, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Ahaz, Manasseh, Hezechiah, Jehoiakim, Jehoram, Asa, Rehoboam) and The Twelve Lesser Prophets (Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Malachi, Haggai, Habakkuk, Micah, Obadiah, Joel).
Below, Coats-of-Arms of France and Castile. The Stained-Glass Window was offered by
The Queen of France, Blanche of Castile. The Five Lancet Windows represent Saint Anne, Mother of The Virgin Mary, surrounded by Kings Melchizedek, David, Solomon, Aaron, treading the sinner and idolatrous Kings (Nebuchadnezzar, Saul, Jeroboam, Pharaoh).
Français : Rosace nord de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres. La rosace dépeint la Glorification de la Vierge, entourée des anges, de douze rois de Juda (David, Salomon, Abijam (Abia), Josaphat (Iosapht), Azarias (Ozias), Achaz (Acaz), Manassé (Mahases), Ézéchias, Joachim (Ioatam), Joram (Ioram), Asa et Roboam) et des douze petits prophètes (Osée (Oseas), Amos, Jonas, Nahum (Naum), Sophonie (Sephonias), Zacharie, Malachie (Malacias), Aggée (Ageus), Habacuc (Abbacuc), Michée (Micheas), Abdias et Joël (Iohel)).
En-dessous, les armes de France et de Castille (la rosace a été offerte par Blanche de Castille). Les cinq lancettes représentent Sainte Anne, mère de la Vierge, entourée des rois Melchisedech, David, Salomon et d'Aaron, foulant les rois pécheurs et idolâtres : Nabuchodonosor, Saül, Jéroboam et Pharaon.
Photo: 7 February 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: Eusebius (Guillaume Piolle).
(Wikimedia Commons)
Chartres Cathedral, also known as The Cathedral Of Our Lady Of Chartres (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic Church, in Chartres, France, about 80 km (50 miles) South-West of Paris.
Mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220, it stands at the site of at least five Cathedrals that have occupied this place since Chartres became a Bishopric in the 4th-Century A.D. It is built in The Gothic and Romanesque Styles.
English: Chartres Cathedral, Eure-et-Loir, Centre, France. The North Façade.
Français : Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, Centre, France.
Photo: 27 September 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Tango7174
(Wikimedia Commons)
It is designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which calls it: "The High Point of French Gothic Art" and a "Masterpiece".
The Cathedral has been well preserved. The majority of the original Stained-Glass Windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the Early-13th-Century.
The building's Exterior is dominated by heavy Flying Buttresses, which allowed the architects to increase the window size significantly, while The West End is dominated by two contrasting Spires – a 105-metre (349 ft) plain Pyramid, completed around 1160, and a 113-metre (377 ft) Early-16th-Century Flamboyant Spire, on top of an older Tower.
English: Three-tiered wall structure of Chartres Cathedral.
The
Arcade (below),
Triforium (middle), and
Clerestorey (above)
(with two windows united by a small, round, Rossete Window)
Deutsch: Wandfläche mit Triforium.
Date: August 2006.
Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Triforium_Chartres.jpg
Author: BT from German Wikipedia
(Wikimedia Commons)
Since at least the 12th-Century, the Cathedral has been an important destination for travellers. It remains so to the present, attracting large numbers of Christian Pilgrims, many of whom come to Venerate its famous Relic, "The Sancta Camisa", said to be the Tunic worn by The Virgin Mary at Christ's Birth, as well as large numbers of secular tourists who come to admire the Cathedral's architecture and historical merit.
