Chartres Cathedral Tour: Secrets in Stone and Glass

Step into the awe-inspiring Chartres Cathedral, one of Europe’s greatest Gothic masterpieces and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This self-guided audio tour on our mobile app reveals the cathedral’s history, legends, and innovations through more than 20 stops. Your journey begins outside, where you’ll learn why the two towers look so different—one a simple 12th-century spire, the other a flamboyant 16th-century marvel. At the portals, you’ll uncover biblical stories carved in stone, from the Nativity to the Last Judgment, told like a medieval picture book. Inside, you’ll explore the cathedral’s extraordinary stained glass collection—the Notre Dame de la Belle Verrière, the world-famous “Chartres Blue,” the Passion Window, the Life of Christ Window, and the great Rose Windows, each glowing with color and meaning. The tour also takes you to the choir screen, where Renaissance sculptures bring the Virgin Mary’s early life to life, and finally to the copper-roofed 19th-century ceiling, a story of fire, innovation, and rescue. Chartres is a place of faith, art, and ingenuity. Whether you’re here as a pilgrim, history lover, or curious traveler, this tour lets you discover its treasures at your own pace. Highlights Discover why Chartres’ towers are strikingly different in style and age. Explore sculpted scenes of the Virgin, prophets, kings, and the Last Judgment. See the legendary “Chartres Blue” and stories of other windows of medieval glass. Admire 41 Renaissance reliefs.