On the night of June 10, 1194, most of the townspeople of Chartres would have woken up to the sound of flames crackling and the smell of smoke to find their mainly wooden town in the midst of a terrible fire. By now an important market place, home of a major cathedral and a leading center of education, Chartres was almost totally destroyed in one night.
The cathedral did not escape the fire. The walls, the roof and the small chapels were all destroyed. Only the [G 10 / crypt], the towers and [G 24 / portal], the west front with the [G 19 / lancet] windows and the rose window survived.
At first the people were devastated, not just because their cathedral was gone, but with it the famous [G 29 / Sancta Camisia]. The people believed that without this sacred relic, their city was no longer favored and protected by the Virgin. After three days, however, the relic was found in the ruins of the cathedral and paraded before the people of the town. Apparently hidden in the crypt by the clergy when the cathedral began to burn, its survival was seen as a miracle and a sign from the Virgin that she wanted a great church to be built for her at Chartres.
