Under the imposing silhouette of Notre-Dame cathedral, Chartres boasts an exceptional living environment in which its many medieval streets play host to historical monuments, areas for relaxing, parks and flower gardens… Constant attention is lavished upon this exceptional heritage, through a rich and varied cultural programme, ranging from the most classical of expression to contemporary forms. “Chartres en Lumières” (Chartres in lights) is the leading event that showcases Chartres’ heritage. Every night, from April to January, the finest architectural sites are lit up and their façades become canvases on which history is brought to life. Through its duration and amount of internationally renowned sites, this event is unique and attracts almost one million visitors per year. Chartres is a city of culture and light but is also a sporting city which, since more than ten years ago, has been regularly welcoming many national and international championships. Whether in table tennis, swimming, billiards, squash, BMX, etc, the battles for podium places in many disciplines take place here. Indeed, Chartres has received the Olympic label Terre de Jeux 2024 and the Odyssée, its pool complex, has been chosen as the training base camp for the Australian Olympic swimming team for the next two years. However, one of the sports that really gets the pulses of Chartres’ inhabitants racing is cycling. This passion has been borne out by the success of the various stages of the Tour de France hosted in Chartres. For each new race, the entire city comes out to cheer on the sport’s champions. This will again be the case in 2022, as the city of Chartres will host the start of Paris-Tours for the fifth consecutive year.