Chartres Cathedral’s west front is well known for its two spires, reflecting very different styles of early- and late-Gothic architecture.

In the “book of Chartres,” as some nickname the church, the text is the sculpture and windows, and its binding is the architecture.

The celebrations surrounding the millennium jubilee year of this Gothic architectural gem, which houses a relic of the Virgin Mary’s veil, will run until summer 2025.

One architectural historian calls it simply, “the most perfect cathedral ever created.” But Chartres is much more than a breathtaking architectural accomplishment.

The towering Gothic cathedral somehow captures the spirit of the 13th century — the so-called Age of Faith — in the 21st century.

Today, the Chartres Cathedral is regarded as one of the most complete and best-preserved Gothic cathedrals in the world.

Amazingly, after Chartres' cathedral burnt to the ground in 1194, it took just 30 years to rebuild — astonishing when you consider it took centuries to build cathedrals such as Paris' Notre-Dame.

A new petition against the cathedral's restoration claims work done over the past six years has irreversibly damaged the 800-year-old building and erased centuries of the history that makes it so ...

The people of Chartres worked like mad to erect this grand cathedral, gift-bearing pilgrims came as never before and the church we see today was completed in 70 years.