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THE MUSEUM OF STAINED GLASS IN CHARTRES 5 rue du Cardinal Pie - F-28000 Chartres, situated 50 metres from the cathedral in a Gothic wine cellar features collections of ancient and contemporary stained-glass windows, a permanent exhibition explaining the stained-glass windows in the cathedral, and master glaziers’studios. The museum tour includes: admission to the Museum of Stained Glass. a detailed demonstration of the techniques used to create a glass-and-lead window (cutting the antique glass, assembling the lead rods, painting, and the development of techniques from the Middle Ages to the present day). a guided tour of the exhibitions and stained-glass window collections on show in the museum. Tour duration: 1½ hours Price: € 7.50 per person Monday to Friday 9.30 a.m.-12.30 p.m. / 1.30- 6.00 p.m. MUSÉE DE L'ÉCOLE 1 rue du 14 juillet - 28000 Chartres (ancienne Ecole Normale d'Instituteurs) Téléphone :02-37-30-07-69 (Du lundi au vendredi de 10 h à 12 h et de 14 h à 18 h.) Teaching material and scholastic furniture will evoke nostalgia for the schools of times past through all the ages: Abacuses, magic lanterns, morality books, space- saving furniture in which each pupil had their own set of pigeonholes: the melancholy poetry of objects from times past. Price: 3,50€ AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM (Conservatoire du Machinisme et des Pratiques Agricoles) D24 F - 28000 Chartres 0237841500 lecompa@cg28.fr Tuesday to Friday: 9am to 12.30pm and from 13h30 to 18h. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 10am to 12h30 and 13h30 to 19h. For individuals , guided tours: For groups subject to a reservation. Enquiries 02 37 84 15 08 or by contacting the Public Service . Admission: 3,80 € In a rotunda of the SNCF, the Conservatory for agricultural machinery and practices (COMPA) a museum is housed dedicated to agriculture. Tools and machinery (seed drills, harvesters) are shown in a huge hall then there is a very well set up section devoted to the changes in the rural world after which some dioramas will initiate you into agricultural progress across the centuries and the continents. An entrancing Museum, the visit finishes with an exhibition of traction engines. ST PETER'S CHURCH Rue St-Pierre F - 28000 Chartres This is the Gothic Church from the old Benedictine abbey of St-Père-en-Vallée. The clock tower door dates from a pre-Roman building. In the arches to the right of the chancel the oldest stained-glass windows depict in hieratic forms people from the Old Testament. Vibrating with colour the stained-glass windows of the hemicycle of the chancel were installed around 1300. Finally installed (around 1305 - 1315) were the windows of the nave alternating important people with medallions. ST ANDREW'S CHURCH 2 Rue St-André F - 28000 Chartres 0237210369 Deconsecrated now, this Romanesque Church was the centre of one of the liveliest quarters of Chartres, that of the « river workers »: millers, dyers, cobblers, fullers, tanners and tawers. In the 16C it was enlarged with the chancel stall and an apse Chapel sitting over arches spanningthe river Eure. The chancel stall and these vaults sadly disappeared in 1827. FOOTBRIDGE OVER THE RIVER EURE F - 28000 Chartres Near St Andrew's Church, this provides an attractive view over the river, which is crossed by two hump-backed bridges. You'l notice at the foot of the damaged nave of the Church remains of the arch that supported the chancel stall. |
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- climb the Chartres Cathedral tower - Musée des Beaux-Arts, Fine Arts Museum (located near the Cathedral of Chartres) housed in the former episcopal palace. 29 Cloître Notre-Dame F - 28000 Chartres 0237364139 Installed in an old Episcopal palace, it is set on the first terrace of the bishop's Gardens. It houses collections of paintings (from primitives to the 19 C) among which there is a crucifix by Quentin Metsys. In the basement, sculptures, religious objects from the Middle Ages, fine enamels by Leonard Limosin, and architectural relics from the area. The new rooms house collections modern art (Vlaminck). Prices : 2.45€ (ticket combined with Maison Picassiette: 4€). - Military uniforms and accoutrements museum (Le Grenier de l'Histoire Musée). - Natural Science and Prehistory Museum (Muséum de sciences naturelles et de la préhistoire) Rue des Écuyers This is one of the best restored parts of old Chartres. Some houses have preserved their bossage doors surmounted by bull's-eye windows. At the corner with the Rue au Cois, a half-timbered house forms a prow. Opposite you will find the « Queen Bertha's » staircase tower. Quais de l'Eure Rue de la Tannerie F - 28000 Chartres In old Chartres, along the River Eure and other waterways, the mills and washing places of rue de la Tanneries have been restored, making for a pleasant walk. Rue aux Juifs leads through a restored old quarter with attractive paved streets, façades with triangular gables and old-fashioned lanterns. Pl. du Cygne This is a widened tree-lined street which on some mornings has a small flower market and makes up, with the very busy central quarter, a welcoming place. At the end of the Rue du Cygne in the Place Marceau, there is a monument to this General who fell in 1796 at the age of 27. Maison de la Voûte Known as Maison de la Voûte (House of the Vault) because of its interior vaulted arches, this edifice is among the oldest surviving in Chartres. It was built in the 12th century as a warehouse for salt, an important commodity in those days. Beautiful Gothic windows decorate the façade, while the interior consists of a large open space supported by high vaulted arches resting on a lone Corinthian column. The building was classified as a historic monument in 1966. It is nowadays used as a boutique, so you can pretend to be shopping for clothes to go in for a peek. I'm sure you won't be the first. Jean-Moulin Monument Bd de la Résistance F - 28000 Chartres Jean-Moulin was the Prefect of Chartres at the time of the German invasion. On 8th June 1940, he refused to sign a document, demanded by the occupying forces, which would have incriminated his French forces made up of Senegalese sharpshooters, then he tried to commit suicide. Pardoned in November by the Vichy government, he then became a member of the underground forces. Maison de l'archeologie At the foot of the cathedral, home of archeology founded in 1993 is a research, conservation and study of the archaeological heritage of Chartres. Every year, the public is invited to come and discover exhibits on local archeology and through departmental workshops for schools, visits for adults and adolescents. Temporary exhibitions and workshops for adults and students are also organized. In this house, there are no fewer than 45 000 pictures taken from objects or materials from the excavations in the town of Chartres. In July, August, September, open every day from 14h to 18h except Tuesday. From October to May, open Wednesday and Sunday from 14h to 17h. Closed in June Rates: € 1.50 for the visit of the exhibition, 1 € for groups of 10, free for children under 18. Galerie du Vitrail (6 minutes from Chartres by car, and 32 minutes by foot) 16 Rue d'Ouraville F - 28300 Lèves Phone 0237212071. The workshop is located in the middle of a park decorated with stained-glass windows. It was built 1946 by Gabriel Loire, and today is run by his grandchildren. Get to know the basics of the art of stained glass and the various techniques used, from the design stage to the final shape given by the master glassmaker. MOSQUEE ANOUSSRA Adresse : 11 rue Robert Legué - 28000 Chartres EGLISE REFORMEE Adresse : 20 rue Saint Thomas - 28000 Chartres CHÂTEAU DE MAINTENON - Place Aristide Briand - 28130 MAINTENON - +33 (0)2 37 23 00 09 (20 minutes by train) 10.30am to 6pm, 6.5 €/adult - guided tour 8.50 € The history of Madame de Maintenon is the stuff of fairytales. The widow of the poet Scarron, Françoise d’Aubigné, was initially appointed as governess for the illegitimate children of the King and Madame de Montespan. After several years of tireless devotion to her work, she earned the recognition and then the love of the Sun King, and they secretly married. The “secret wedding” was not so secret, however: it was the talk of the Court, and the news even reached the Pope, who sent the couple wedding gifts. The story of Madame de Maintenon is one of a governess who became Queen! The Vauban aqueduct The enormous unfinished aqueduct that stretches from one side of the estate of Maintenon to the other is the physical manifestation of a King’s caprices. The structure, Vauban’s only civilian construction, was a colossal project, intended to carry the water of the River Eure to the fountains of the Château de Versailles. Although at the time it was seen as a scar in the château grounds, today the remains of the aqueduct exude a certain romantic charm. |