The first cathedral of Chartres was destroyed in 743 when the Duke of Aquitaine sacked the city.

The second cathedral was burnt down by Hastings, a Viking, in 858 when he pillaged the city.

The third was most likely consecrated in 878 when Charlemagne's grandson presented Chartres with the Sancta Camisia, a piece of cloth said to have been worn by Mary. The result was that Chartres became one of the most popular pilgrimage shrines in Medieval Europe.

Over the following years, the cathedral was expanded, damaged and repaired several times. The resulting structure that stands there today is an impressive expression of Romanesque and Gothic architecture.