_The Interior_ is memorable for its immensity and for the strange and almost crude crimsons and blues of the twelfth and thirteenth century glass. The three twelfth-century windows are below the rose of the western end of the nave, where they survived the fire of 1194 almost by a miracle. Several of the windows were given by the trades of Chartres, from the armourers to the pastry-cooks. By many Chartres is considered the finest cathedral in France, and although there will occur to the mind the glories of the choir of Beauvais and of the nave of Amiens, the interior of Chartres, in its reposeful vastness and strength as a complete structure built in one period, leaves all rivals far behind. _The Ambulatory Screen_ is the most sumptuous piece of Renaissance carving in France. It was begun in 1514 by Jean de Beauce, and completed [Illustration: TOWN PLAN NO. 7.--CHARTRES.] in the eighteenth century. The lives of Christ and of the Virgin are illustrated in the series of pictures in stone. _The Assumption of the Virgin_, of Carrara marble, carefully selected by Bridan the sculptor, was finished in 1773. At the Revolution it was saved by an architect, who put a red cap of liberty on the head of the Virgin and a lance in her hand. _The Vierge-du-Pilier_ is a figure of wood, painted and gilded, with an almost black face. It stands on a short pillar, and is especially venerated by women, being a link with very early and primitive forms of worship. _The Chapelle St. Piat_ was built in 1349 at the east end and separate from the cathedral. A staircase and passage lead to it. _The Labyrinth_ of blue-and-white stone in the floor of the nave is a rare and interesting feature, and one of the best in existence. It is not properly known in what way these mazes were used, nor the rites connected with them, although it has been stated that instead of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a penitent could perform the 600-feet journey of the maze on his knees. _The Treasury_ contains, in a modern reliquary, two pieces of white silk, regarded as part of the tunic or veil of the Virgin, which had been given to Charlemagne by the Empress Irene, and was afterwards presented to Chartres by Charles the Bald. THE LESSER CHURCHES OF CHARTRES