Chartres is built on a hill on the left bank of the Eure river and is an hour away from Paris. Chartres retains its picturesque charm of its medieval past. Chartres suffered heavy damage from bombing during WWII and during the battle of Chartres in August 1944.
Chartres and is easy to navigate on foot and has several museums, a pedestrian area full of shops, restaurants, cafés and markets. The Little Chart’Train (Le Petit Chart’Train) leaves from outside the Chartres Cathedral both day and night. Check the schedule for times.
Chartres Cathedral
(Under construction) Chartres is best known for it’s cathedral, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres. The two spires of the cathedral are visible for miles.
On 16 August 1944, an order to destroy the cathedral was withdrawn after Colonel Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr. questioned the necessity of destroying it. He volunteered and went behind enemy lines and found that the Germans did not have a post in the cathedral. Sadly, Colonel Griffith Jr was killed on that same day in the town of Lèves (2.2 miles north of Chartres); he received several decorations posthumously.
Below left: Henry IV was coronated at the Cathedral of Chartres in 1594. He is the only king of France whose coronation did not take place in Reims.
