Chartres cathedral : the royal portal

The royal portal hosts two scenographies, "BLEU – Mirror of Men and the Sky" and "Nave of Light and Chartres". These shows retrace respectively the history of the cathedral through its builders and the history of the city from Autricum to today.

The scenographies

BLEU – Mirror of Men and the Sky

BLEU – miroir des Hommes et du Ciel - Portail royal de la cathédrale

Blue is not a color. It is a sensation, a memory, a wave. It is the original water and the eternal stained glass window. It is the rocking sea and the watching sky. It is the blood of a king, the trace of a painter, the breath of God, the silence of a dream.

BLEU is a visual and sensory journey through eight monumental tableaux projected onto the majestic western façade of Chartres Cathedral. A unique, immersive show in which the architecture comes to life, transforms, and breathes. Water flows from the stones, pigments merge into living masterpieces, blue flashes redraw the arches and columns.

From the origins of the world to the lines of the future, BLEU immerses us in a luminous fresco where each fragment of light tells of the invisible, the divine, the absolute.

A visual hymn to beauty, life, and peace.

This scenography was created by M2 | Agence événementielle en Normandie.

Nef de lumière - Portail Royal de la Cathédrale de Chartres

« Nave of light... »

Since the first Frankish kingdoms, go back in history to witness the development of science, literature, music ... So much new knowledge that fed an era and its monuments, as evidenced by the architecture of the cathedral. Accompany the builders in their extreme work. Piece by piece, towers, columns and stained glass windows are assembled to go ever higher. In a playful and mischievous vision, watch these fabulous artists give life to this vessel of stone and glass. It is ready to reach the sky! It is a tribute to these builders that the Spectaculars restore. These workers of another age who allow us to contemplate the Notre-Dame Cathedral even today. Timeless and eternal, it watches over Chartres.

Artistic design : Spectaculaires, allumeurs d’images – Franck Marty and Benoît Quero.

A little history

The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres is one of the largest in France and one of the first French sites to be listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. Since its first construction, 5 versions followed one another, until the cathedral we know today, which dates from the 13th century. An accidental fire in 1836 destroyed the old wooden frame. The entirely rebuilt roof in cast iron with a copper covering is now one of its particularities. Chartres Cathedral also has the richest and most complete collection of ancient stained glass windows in the world with 172 windows spread over 2600m2.