Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres
Guest post by @prasanna
“Beauty doth of itself persuade the eyes of men
without an orator.” — Shakespeare
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres
Chartres Cathedral remains supreme in Christian cathedral culture. It is the incarnation of the Sacred, par excellence, whatever the form, and for
many Chartres is a place of extraordinary light. Located in the Loire Valley, Chartres Cathedral has been a Christian religious and architectural
icon since the eleventh century. This Gothic cathedral has survived wars, revolutions and even fire. Towering church spires, stained multi-coloured glass and the labyrinth will be offered to visitors’ admiration.
The linguistic difference between mazes and labyrinths can be discussed. Most people consider them to be synonyms, but unlike mazes, labyrinths
have a single path, no dead ends, and one way in and out. In many world’s religions it symbolizes the journey of the spiritual seeker, the path one
must walk in order to grow towards clarity and wisdom.
We spent two days in the splendor of this amazing cathedral during November 2011, trying to capture through the lens of a camera what is simply not
possible to capture. Chartres is more about light and vibration than the beauty of its architecture. The Cathedral is huge, its grand pillars and
stained glass windows, leaves one in such awe that taking photos is a chore anyway. Chartes is undergoing restoration and cleaning, therefore it
is quite impossible to see the entire structure as some areas are hidden from view. The Cathedral is located in the middle of the ancient town of
Chartres, which in itself is of significant historic value. Eve.
I don’t think you can capture the beauty and the atmospheric essence of the inside of any cathedral with photographs Prasanna, it has to be personally experienced, to be felt, to be moved by the splendour, by the architecture and by the feeling of awe, none of this can be transposed by a photograph.
I amazed by the beauty and spender of the stained glass windows in cathedrals, around the world. The amount of work and expertise that has gone into these windows are mind blowing, when you consider a lot of them were done without today’s modern equipment. A lot of them have a whole story ‘written’ into the scene within the Windows, and is a wonder just in its own right apart from the classical carvings and stone work. Thank you for your descriptive appraisal .
Chartres the town is gorgeous. One of the best I’ve seen in France. They have good restaurants too.. I really enjoyed it there. Better than Paris by far. Further interest in Chartres can be found on you tube – from the building of Chartres to its Sacred Geometry and some other amazing stuff. There is one you tube called Light of Chartres..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOyAjATecso
Thanks for comments.