Saint Pierre Street is one of the rare motor routes that connect the upper part of the town with the lower. Proved to at least date back to the 11th century, but without a doubt, older, it ends at Porte Cendreuse, which was placed inside the 9th-century wall. Around 1750, it is by going along this street, which was then described as the “Pavé du roy” [The King’s Cobblestones], that the route de Paris leads to the town’s center. Along it, one finds several homes that were formerly inhabited by Chartres bourgeois.
This street, the hilliest in town, owes its name to a canon who lived on it during the 14th century. It still preserves its entire group of homes, which are quite old. No. 5 is reputed to have been that of Henry IV; this is because of the interior décor of a bedroom, which would date back to the period when that king lived. At No. 29, one finds what is probably the oldest stone house in Chartres; it was built during the 12th century, in all probability for a canon affiliated with the Saint-André Collegiate Church. Its sculpted decoration was only rediscovered in 1920, under plaster coating. The subjects that are represented (acrobats, helmeted heads or cowl-covered heads spitting out leaves…) perhaps had symbolic meaning which now escapes us. The short Saint Julien Street, which ends at the crossroads, used to lead to the Six-Vingts Aveugles Hospital, which was founded by Renaud Barbou, one of King Charles VI’s regular visitors.
This street was a business district that connected des Épars Gate with the château and the cathedral; it seems to have been the town’s main artery during the Middle Ages (at least since the construction of the ramparts at the end of the 12th century). It was called “Grande Rue,” or “Grande Rue des Épars,” and later, “Rue du Grand Cerf,” [Street of the Stag] because that was what was on a sign of one of its inns; the existence of the same is confirmed to have been during the middle of the 16th century. In 1902, the name “Noël Ballay” was given to the street, in memory of the doctor born in Fontenay-sur-Eure, close to Chartres. The Governor General of French West Africa, he died in Senegal in 1902, victim of the yellow fever epidemic he had tried to eradicate.
“La Courtille” was the name that was given to a big garden situated on the left bank of the Eure, outside of the town wall. At this spot, which was swampy, a drainage ditch called “Le Petit Bouillon” was put into operation a very long time ago; its purpose was to relieve the river of waste. Then between 1356 and 1359, a second ditch, to be used for defense, was dug at the foot of the wall. During other times, the entrance of the river into the town was barred by some portcullis. The river’s nearby postern was called “de Launay Gate.” A wooden bridge, which carried the nickname “pont qui Tremble” [Trembling Bridge], crossed over the river. It was reconstructed in stone between 1764 and 1768, at the time of the development of the road that would allow vehicles coming from Paris to bypass the walls, so one would no longer have to drive through town’s narrow streets (up till then, the Royal Highway went into the town through Port Guillaume). The big structure that was built on top of the old ramparts in 1874 was named “Château d’If” by its owner, who might have been inspired by Alexander Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo, which had come out some 30 years earlier. Across from it were fields on the Eure’s left bank that depended on the Saint-Père Abbey, whose church is very close by. After the Revolution, they were turned back over to the Army, which controlled them until 1960.
Mairie de Chartres
Place des Halles
28000 Chartres
Standard tous services :
Tel. :+33 (0)2 37 23 40 00
Fax : +33 (0)2 37 23 41 99
Heures d'ouverture
Du lundi au vendredi : 9 h 00-17 h 00
Le samedi : 9 h 00-12 h 30
