Cathedral
France > Loire > Cities > Bourges > Cathedral

Bourges

The exterior of the twelfth-century Cathédrale St-Étienne (daily: April–Sept 8.30am–7.15pm; Oct–March 9am–5.45pm) is characterized by the delicate, almost skeletal appearance of flying buttresses supporting an entire nave that has no transepts to break up its bulk. A much-vaunted example of Gothic architecture, it's modelled on Notre-Dame in Paris but incorporates improvements on the latter's design, such as the astonishing height of the inner aisles.

The tympanum above the main door of the west portal could engross you for hours with its tableau of the Last Judgement, featuring carved, naked figures with bodies full of movement and faces alive with expression. Thirteenth-century imagination has been given full rein in the depiction of the devils, complete with snakes' tails and winged bottoms and faces appearing from below the waist, symbolic of the soul in the service of sinful appetites.

The interior's best feature is its twelfth- to thirteenth-century stained glass. There are geometric designs in the main body of the cathedral, but the most glorious windows, with astonishing deep colours, are around the choir, all created between 1215 and 1225. You can follow the stories of the Prodigal Son, the Rich Man and Lazarus, the life of Mary, Joseph in Egypt, the Good Samaritan, Christ's Crucifixion, the Last Judgement and the Apocalypse – binoculars come in handy for picking up the exquisite detail. The painted decoration of the fascinating astronomical clock in the nave celebrates the wedding of Charles VII, who married Marie d'Anjou here on 22 April 1422.

guided tours of the crypt (roughly every hour; closed Sun morning; €4.80) allow you to see the puggish alabaster statue of Jean de Berry (1340–1416). Like his powerful brothers, Charles V, Philip the Bold of Burgundy and Louis d'Anjou, the Duc de Berry amassed a huge collection of fine art objects, among which is the gorgeously illuminated Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, considered one of the finest Books of Hours ever created; it is now kept in the Musée Condé in Chantilly. Along with the pleurants that can be seen in the Musée du Berry, the statue of the Duc de Berry is one of the few parts of his original, elaborate tomb to have survived the demolition of the Sainte-Chapelle in 1757; a small bear, symbol of strength, lies asleep at his feet. Alongside are fragments of the cathedral's original rood screen, which survived the Protestant siege of 1562 but not the modernizers of the mid-eighteenth century, while a wonderful polychrome Entombment from the 1530s adorns the dark centre of the crypt. The same ticket allows you to climb unsupervised to the top of the north tower, rebuilt in Flamboyant style after the original collapsed in 1506.

Next to the cathedral in place E.-Dolet, the Musée des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (Tues–Sat 10am–noon & 2–6pm, Sun 2–6pm; free) displays show-off pieces by French artisans. The theme changes each year, and recent features have included glassblowing, woodwork and pastry-making.