Wood You Believe?: "Normandy" Day 8

The last visit on our Toussaint itinerary was the cathedral of Chartres. I put "Normandy" in quotes because Chartres is technically not in Normandy.

Chartres is famous for being one of the world's finest examples of gothic architecture and stained glass. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it has been undergoing major renovation for several years already and it was even more beautiful than I remembered it because so much of the interior ceilings, walls, and sculpture has been cleaned and restored to a white finish, as well as most of the stain glass windows have also been cleaned which obviously elevates one's experience of the windows exponentially. There's still a lot of work to be done, and there's large amounts of scaffolding covering the areas that are currently being restored.

From Wikipedia:

One of the most distinctive features of Chartres Cathedral is the stained glass, both for its quantity and quality. There are 167 windows, including rose windows, round oculi, and tall, pointed lancet windows. The architecture of the cathedral, with its innovative combination of rib vaults and flying buttresses, permitted the construction of much higher and thinner walls, particularly at the top clerestory level, allowing more and larger windows. Also, Chartres contains fewer plain or grisaille windows than later cathedrals, and more windows with densely stained glass panels, making the interior of Chartres darker but the colour of the light deeper and richer.^[46]

...approximately 152 of the original 176 stained glass windows survive – far more than any other medieval cathedral anywhere in the world.

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Chartres.

You can see a little bit the difference between the walls that have been cleaned and restored and the grey dirty walls behind it.

This is a series of 40 sculptures telling about the major moments of Mary's life and of Jesus on the choir wall of the Cathedral, dating from 16th-18th centuries.

This is the relic of Mary's veil.

It is actually behind a closed grill/gate, so one cannot get very close to it and the lighting in the cathedral makes it very difficult to photograph.

"This reliquary contains a veil venerated has having been worn by the Virgin Mary.
Of Palestinian origin, this veil was kept in the imperial treasury of Constantinople. The Empress Irene gave it to Charlemagne. This relic has been at the Cathedral of Chartres since 876."