Église Saint-Pierre, Chartres, Abbey church in Chartres, France

The Église Saint-Pierre is a Gothic church in Chartres with a west tower kept from an earlier Romanesque building. Its pale stone walls are braced by buttresses topped with slender pinnacles, and a thin dark spire with a cross rises from the roofline. Tall pointed windows with dark tracery fill the upper walls, and a red arched door opens at the lower right.

The abbey of Saint-Père-en-Vallée, to which the church belonged, dates to the 7th century; Queen Bathilde probably did not found it but increased its revenues. Destroyed by the Normans in 858 and 911, it was rebuilt around 930 by Bishop Aganon of Chartres, who was buried there. Fires in 1077 and 1134 spared only the west tower, and the church was rebuilt from the 12th century, with the choir windows installed around 1190 and work completed around 1320.

The church is named after Saint Peter, to whom the former abbey of Saint-Père-en-Vallée was dedicated. Since 1803 it has been a parish church, and it regularly hosts concerts during the Festival d'orgues. The axial chapel holds an 18th-century Virgin by Charles Antoine Bridan.

The entrance sits below street level, which is helpful for finding the building. It is best to visit during daytime when natural light illuminates the stained-glass windows.

The west tower survived the fires of 1077 and 1134 and was kept when the church was rebuilt from the 12th century, so it still stands as the oldest part of the building. Look for the red arched door at the lower right of the facade, set into the weathered grey and tan masonry.