Chartres Cathedral. Hours. Mass times

Visit Chartres Cathedral near Paris

Chartres Cathedral is a UNESCO world heritage monument and one of the world's most beautiful churches. In the heart of a lovely old city 90 kilometers south west from Paris, Chartres Cathedral is devoted to the Virgin Mary. It could be the mystical experience of your life.

You can go from Paris to Chartres by train (check train schedules and buy tickets) from Gare Montparnasse (map) or by car (A10 freeway).

Many pilgrims visit Chartres Cathedral to pray the Virgin, the mother of Christ, a tradition dating back to the 9th century.

Chartres Cathedral mass times

There are masses every day in Chartres Cathedral.

Friday: 7am Mass in the crypt. 9am: Chapter Mass
Monday to Saterday noon:
11.45am: Mass in the crypt. 6.15pm: Mass. 7pm: Vespers service.
Saturday: 6pm Mass
Sunday:
9am: Gregorian Mass. 11am: High Mass
From All Saint’s Day to Palm Sunday:
5.15pm: Vespers service (on major solemnities). 6pm: Mass
From Easter to the Sunday before All Saint’s Day:
5.45pm: Vespers service (on major solemnities). 6.30pm: Mass.

The crypt is shown on Chartres Cathedral plan as anchor 6. It is accessible from outiside on the left hand side of the Cathedral.

Our Lady's veil in Chartres

The first church in Chartres boasted one of the most venerated relics in Christendom, Our Lady’s Veil, which tradition declares was worn by the Virgin while giving birth to Jesus Christ and as she stood at the foot of the Cross.

It had been transferred in the early years of the Christian Church from Jerusalem to Constantinople and presented by the Empress Irene to the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. In 876 his descendant Charles the Bald gave the relic to Chartres church.

Our Lady’s Veil is kept in a golden reliquary beside the high altar. See Voile de la Vierge on Chartres Cathedral map. The veil is more than six metres long and made of silk. Studies have shown that it is of Syrian design, of fine quality and can be traced to the first century. If indeed it was the original Veil of Our Lady it has probably been extended and embellished over the centuries.

Every year on 15th August, the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, the Veil is processed through Chartres.

Notre-Dame de la Belle-Verrière

Mona Lisa of the stained glass windows, this stained glass window, made in the second half of the 12th century, is known worldwide. Its Roman blue, clear and luminous, is called the blue of Chartres. It is one of the many representations of the Virgin Mary in Chartres Cathedral.

Also known as the blue virgin, the name of this stained glass window refers to the 3 panels representing the virgin. Made in the Romanesque style in 1180, this stained glass window is one of the 4 windows made in the second half of the 12th century and which survived the fire of 1194.

Only the virgin and child dates from this period. Indeed, at the time of the reconstruction, these 3 panels were integrated into a 13th century ensemble.

Facing the stained glass window, you can see the difference between the clear blue of the virgin's dress, the famous Chartres blue and the blue of the rest of the stained glass window, which is darker. Here, it is the cobalt oxide that gives this blue color to the so-called "sodium" glass, with different shades in the thickness of the glass and above all, tiny bubbles that accentuate the clarity of the glass.

This incomparable blue stands out even more brilliantly thanks to the red of the background of the stained glass window.

Chartres Cathedral Treasure

150 pieces have been selected to be presented to visitors in the Saint-Piat chapel, tracing different historical periods, from the 13th century to the present day. These are essentially objects dedicated to the celebration and decoration of divine service. Badly damaged during the revolution, the cathedral's treasure is recomposed and alive.

Among the major works exhibited, there is the Tabernacle of Saint-Aignan dating from the 13th century, the incense boat of Miles d'Illiers made of a nautilus shell (marine mollusc) adorned with gold dating from the 16th century or an altarpiece "deposited" by the Louvre Museum representing the birth of the Virgin, the only one preserved from the Ancien Régime.

In the lower part, there is the medieval rood screen, which once separated the heart of the nave of the cathedral, and which was found under the cathedral during excavations in the 19th century. Some of these objects are still used for worship.

Chartres Light Show

Chartres Light Show has become one of the major events in the city, through its spectacular night tour, and reveals monuments and major attractions highlighted and put in music. The Lights of Chartres event has been animating the city for the past 20 years. The first Celebration of Light took place in 2002 and quickly became one of the city's most remarkable events, attracting tourists from around the world. Approximately one million visitors are expected each year.

24 sites of this beautiful city are illuminated each night: Notre Dame Cathedral, the old Episcopal Palace, churches, bridges, wash houses at the edge of the Eure river, the library, streets and squares of the upper town. Web site.

Chartres history and architecture

Inaugurated in 1260, Chartres Cathedral marks the high point of French Gothic art with its nave, porches adorned with sculptures from the middle of the 12th century, and 13th-century stained-glass windows. Chartres Cathedral is fortunately also well preserved. Chartres Cathedral was not looted during the 1789 French Revolution. The restorations have not altered its beauty. Its three rose windows are originals. Chartres Cathedral has been a major Virgin Mary pilgrimage destination since the early Middle Ages.

Paris churches

Chartres pilgrimage

The glory of Chartres is the Veil of Our Lady, one of Christendom’s most holy relics, and the reason the Cathedral was built.  It was discovered, along with the true Cross, by St. Helena, and later given to Charlemagne by the Byzantine Empress Irene. It was to venerate this holy veil that the pilgrims of the Middle Ages came and turned Chartres into the fourth most popular place of pilgrimage in Christendom. The pilgrimage was rejuvenated in early 20th century when a then-agnostic poet named Charles Péguy took it upon himself to walk from Paris to Chartres in search of the intercession of the Mother of God. Close to 20 000 pilgrims participate to the Notre Dame de Chrétienté pilgrimage every year.

A poem about Chartres pilgrimage by Charles Péguy

We are coming to you from far away Paris
For three days now we have left behind our shops
And the study of archeology and of semantics
And the Sorbonne as well as its students
Others will come to you from Beauvais
But we have left behind, for three days now,
all our business dealings
And the overwhelming noise of the big city.