Chartres Cathedral

1. The western façade of Chartres Cathedral is a random combination of styles. The tower began to build in the 1130s and 1140s, nearly 400 years later to build the left tip. Window rose in Gothic style, about 1210. Time of construction: 1194 - mid-13th century
2. Location: Chartres, France

Chartres is the most intact cathedral in a series of important cathedrals in the Ile de France, the outskirts of Paris, and built in Gothic style in Europe. St Denis and Sens in the 1140s, followed by Laon and Paris in the 1160s, Bourges and Chartres in the 1190s; Reims and Le Mansa in the 1210s, Amiens and Beauvais in the 1220s and 1240s. Each of these churches is unique and special, but together forms a pattern that persists for centuries and extends widely. in all Christian countries. Basically, this pattern consists of a system that does not rely on the strength of a solid masonry but on the balance of forces that are in balance. The sharp top arch instead of the arch has a variable width, but all have the same height, the weight of the stone arch now focuses on some points instead of distributing along the entire wall, allowing the space to stay The middle can open like an increasingly large window, and other points of the bucket force can be moved to the outer ground through the structure that supports the bucket's force, giving the entire structure a sense of serenity and The vivid lines before had never been achieved.

Chartres applies a traditional diagram of the Latin cross, which has a time between the church and the choir arranged in the junction. The choir at the end of the house is semicircular at the end of the church, with chapels radiating. Height up to 3 floors inside: arched wire consists of cylindrical pillars supporting wide arches, with column body located in 4 main directions, inner column body lifting all the height to the arched roof, The top of the narrow church consists of 5 small arches each protruding from the main part, and the wall is very deep with a veined network pattern. Unusually, the upper part of the wall extends downward to a point below the arch base. Of the 9 towers following Chartres's original plan, only 2 were implemented.

The northern edge of the middle of the church: The structure of supporting the bucket force of the dome with many small pillars emits ineffective function. This upper arched structure was added in the 14th century. While in many ways, Chartres was originally typical of the Gothic period, which made Chartres especially retain its perfection. sculpture - and even more special is all the stained glass in the church. Thus, in general experience, Chartres is considered one of the pinnacles in world architecture.

Building Chartres

A first cathedral, a massive Roman-style building, the gate roof has 3 parts protruding from the spectacular main section, "Portail Royal" was built at the scene in the 1140s. 50 years later on 10/06/1194, this cathedral was destroyed by a fire, leaving only the gate. The rest is completely new.

It was decided to maintain the ancient Portail Royal even though this affected consistency in the style of construction, as a good decision, because it meant the existence of some of the most sophisticated sculptures. in the Middle Ages. Anyway, the overall impression of Chartres is still a unified design, in which there is a clear choice and aesthetic decision to follow. This implies that this is a product of a particular mind, a special architect whose habitual historians often call "the Chartres master". But convincingly, after more than 30 years of construction, at least 9 other masters participated, each person's contributions clearly distinguished themselves through countless minor details and some important decisions. Do they all follow an overall scheme, or do each one put their own ideas into what the predecessor has shown? A really interesting question but hard to answer.

Actual data:

1. Total length: 155m
2. Width on the west façade: 47.5m
3. Width of the center between churches: 14m
4. Length of the middle of the church: 73m
5. Height of arched roof roof in middle space: 37m
6. North tower height: 115m
7. Southern tower height: 107m
8. Diameter of large rose windows: 13.4m

Construction Engineering

The structural system applied in Chartres and all Gothic cathedrals: The weight of the arched roof is transferred to the ground by a bucket-bearing structure of the dome. The Gothic cathedral was built with many crews built under the command of a maestro, with a group of workers from one work to another and sometimes from one country to another. The group of workers is known as the "in-house" of skilled craftsmen, each with their own skills. The stone at the mine must be as accurate as possible, to reduce the transport of the more complex parts, such as: the arch molding or the veil of the window must stretch on the ground in accordance with the drawing. real rate. Ideally, the entire diagram must be marked and the footing of the excavated nail in one batch.

After finishing all layers, we often observe the construction time through bricks built in blocks. In monumental buildings like Chartres there are vertical cracks and changes in brick construction that indicate the construction process.

Normally when building churches usually start in the East, but in Chartres it is different: The structure of the bearing structure of the domed dome in the middle of the church - a wheel with 1/4 of the circle of spokes seems old more like those wheels in the east choir and the aisles, the narrow, simple arched windows in the middle of the church are more complicated than the choir.

Scaffolding is very expensive, so the usual method is to build a wooden working platform that is supported on the wall rather than catching scaffolding from the ground. When the entire height of the wall has been built, the space inside is covered with a roof before building the arched roof, used to cover the rain and sun for the workers. Continuing with a frame, at that time the spaces between the spaces (compartments) are filled with the minimum amount of wood used.

Stone is brought up to the scaffold with earthed or raised roads by crawler crane located in the project. The sculpted stage like the pillar is done right in the scene: the humanoid sculpture carved in the workshop and installed when completed - some medieval sculptures with engraved numbers indicating the mounting position put. The final stage is for glassmakers, fitting meticulously cut stained glass into the gaps in the stone veined pattern.

Sculptures and glasses

Chartres's architecture seems to be considering how to maintain a balanced simplicity so that when you look into the eye, it is not dispersed by external sculptures and stained glass.

4 columns of statues at the Portail Royal, the oldest sculpture in the cathedral, depicting characters in the Old Testament but unable to identify the characters. The story of the carving must begin with the Portail Royal in the 1140s. Along with St Denis, Portail Royal marks an independent character sculpture in the West, shaped like a humanoid column. These columns rely on or replace some of the pillars around the church doorway, with many embossed sculptures in the linen and architectural panels above.

The horizontal wings of the North and South create even more sophisticated arches. Built about 80 years after Portail Royal, these corridors belong to another world, a world of humanism in the 13th century, with lifelike idealists combining spiritual power with The physical strength of a hero.

But the feature that makes Chartres the most famous is its stained glass . The usual reaction when entering the cathedral is the reaction of the dismayed person, which seems to be almost a level of gloom. Medieval glass does not seem transparent throughout. The dark color is like a gem, it takes some time to get used to the level of light (and it must be said: a new lens must be used to fully enjoy the beauty of the glass in any detail). These difficulties make Chartres unlike any other church.

The glorified cathedral in the first half of the 13th century, the purchase of glasses donated by pilgrims, nobles, and businessmen in the city contributed, because their profession was a souvenir of the saints. Gift protection, linked to Bible details. Most of these windows must always require expert guidance to understand the meaning. Long arrow arches on the church's windows often have 20 to 30 landscapes. A little higher, the scale got bigger and bigger, the giant gods were like Aaron, chests filled with jewels and eyes wide, staring downwards.

Completely different from the topics in the window, the Medieval theologians added color and light to a mysterious nature, which was explained in detail by the German Board of Suger in the construction of St Denis church."The visible light, the kind of light created by nature in heaven and mankind created in the world is the image of the wisdom light and above all the image of the true Light . "

The intersection in Chartres Cathedral, looking at the north wing, the choir on the left