Editing Chartres Cathedral (section)

==The crypt (9th–11th century)==
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File:Chartres - cathédrale - puits.JPG|The Well of the Saints Forts, in the Saint Fulbert Crypt
File:Cathedrale nd chartres eglise basse037.jpg|12th century fresco in the Saint Lubin Crypt, showing the Virgin Mary on her throne of wisdom, with the Three Kings to her right and Savinien and Potenien to her left
</gallery>

The small Saint Lubin Crypt, under the choir of the cathedral, was constructed in the 9th century and is the oldest part of the building. It is surrounded by a much larger crypt, the Saint Fulbert Crypt, which was completed in 1025, five years after the fire that destroyed most of the older cathedral. It is U-shaped and 230 meters long, next to the crypts of [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in Rome and [[Canterbury Cathedral]]. It is the largest crypt in Europe and serves as the foundation of the cathedral above.<ref>Information sheet on the Crypt, published by the Welcome and Visitor Service, Dioceses of Chartres (2019)</ref>

The corridors and chapels of the crypt are covered with Romanesque [[barrel vaults]], [[groin vaults]] where two barrel vaults meet at right angles, and a few more modern Gothic rib-vaults.<ref>Houvet (2019), pp. 17–18</ref>

One notable feature of the crypt is the Well of the Saints-Forts. The well is thirty-three metres deep and is probably of Celtic origin. According to legend, Quirinus, the Roman magistrate of the Gallo-Roman town, had the early Christian martyrs thrown down the well. A statue of one of the martyrs, Modeste, is featured among the sculpture on the North Portico.<ref name="Visitor information sheet 2019">Visitor information sheet (2019)</ref>

Another notable feature is the Our Lady of the Crypt Chapel. A reliquary here contains a fragment of the reputed veil of the Virgin Mary, which was donated to the cathedral in 876 by Charles the Bald, the grandson of [[Charlemagne]]. The silk veil was divided into pieces during the French Revolution. The largest piece is shown in one of the ambulatory chapels above. and the small Shrine of Our Lady of the Crypt. The altar of the chapel is carved from a single block of limestone from the Berchères quarry, the source of most of the stone of the cathedral. The fresco on the wall dates from about 1200 and depicts the Virgin Mary on her throne. The [[Biblical Magi|Three Kings]] are to her left, and the Apostles Savinien and Potentien to her right. The chapel also has a modern stained glass window, the ''Mary, Door to Heaven Window'', made by Henri Guérin, made by cementing together thick slabs of stained glass.<ref name="Visitor information sheet 2019"/><ref>Houvet (2019), pp. 17–191</ref>