There are some interesting old churches in Chartres. In the Church of San Pierre there are dazzling stained windows which should be seen by the visitor, as they are among the finest examples in Chartres. There is an old portal on the north side, and the great buttresses should be noted. Many of the decorations of the interior were destroyed by the Revolution.
There are some old houses of historical and architectural interest in Chartres, and one will be seen near Saint Aignan's.
The Museum is in the town hall. Among the objects of interest collected here are some examples of tapestry that were formerly in the cathedral. There are also many relics of the Roman days. In the library are several old missals.
Chartres is the birthplace of two poets, Desportes and Mathurin Regnier, his nephew. Desportes, born in 1546, travelled in Italy and Poland, and was court bard to Henri III. He died in 1606. Mathurin Regnier was a poet of a higher order. He composed a number of fine satires and many lyrical poems.
A general impression of Chartres is gained by following the tree-shaded walk which surrounds the old town, a promenade that gives many delightful glimpses of the plain and of narrow ancient streets, with here and there a trace of the crumbling walls.
By the side of the River Vesle, in the province of Marne, and on the verge of a famous champagne producing country, is one of the oldest towns of France. Rheims, with its ancient gates, its memorials of Roman times, and monuments of illustrious kings of Gaul, has a history of much interest. Its cathedral ranks with the finest ecclesiastic buildings of the world, and is celebrated as the scene of many great pageants of the coronations of French sovereigns. The Romans captured a city here, and called it Durocortorum, and in Cæsar's day this was an important station. It is recorded that Attila, the fierce conqueror, ravaged the town with fire.
The Consul, Jovinus of Rheims, was an early convert to Christianity, which was preached here by two missionaries from Rome in the fourth century. The marble cenotaph of the Christian consul is to be seen in the city. Then came the Vandals, who seized the town, and murdered the bishop at the door of the first cathedral.