Chartres Cathedral

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres, built to keep and preserve the garment that the Virgin Mary wore at the birth of Christ, shows the builders' longing to raise a building that seems to have been dematerialised by the radiance of a heavenly light. The sculpture and glasswork of the building, as the embodiment of the sacred culture of their time, depict people and events from the Bible in a contemporary setting – a sermon in stone that complemented the spoken and read words of the sacred liturgy, and allowed the worshippers to share in its message through words, songs and form.