It is located about 90 km 56 mi [ 4 ] southwest of Paris. At the census, there were , inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres as defined by the INSEE , [ 3 ] 38, of whom lived in the city commune of Chartres proper. Chartres is famous worldwide for its cathedral. Mostly constructed between and , this Gothic cathedral is in an exceptional state of preservation. The majority of the original stained glass windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the early 13th century.
Chartres was one of the principal towns in Gaul of the Carnutes , a Celtic tribe. In the Gallo-Roman period, it was called Autricum , name derived from the river Autura Eure , and afterwards civitas Carnutum , "city of the Carnutes", from which Chartres got its name. The city was raided and burned down by the Norsemen in , and once again besieged, this time unsuccessfully, by them in During the Middle Ages , it was the most important town of the Beauce. In , during the Hundred Years' War , Chartres fell into the hands of the English, from whom it was recovered in In , it was raised to the rank of a duchy by Francis I.
It was finally taken by the royal troops of Henry IV on 19 April On Sunday, 27 February , the cathedral of Chartres was the site of the coronation of Henry IV after he converted to the Catholic faith, the only king of France whose coronation ceremony was not performed in Reims.
During the — Franco-Prussian War , Chartres was seized by the Germans on 2 October , and continued during the rest of the war to be an important centre of operations. During World War II , the city suffered heavy damage by bombing and during the battle of Chartres in August , but its cathedral was spared by an American Army officer who challenged the order to destroy it.
With his driver, Griffith proceeded to the cathedral and, after searching it all the way up its bell tower , confirmed to headquarters that it was empty of Germans. The order to destroy the cathedral was withdrawn. Following deep reconnaissance missions in the region by the 3rd Cavalry Group and units of the Engineer Combat Group , and after heavy fighting in and around the city, Chartres was liberated, on 18 August , by the U.
