Cathedral Cities of France (page 1/2)

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Blois

The spires of Blois cathedral are seen across the River Loire. [more...]

Angers

“The French yearning to make everything new” has done its work in Angers, but through Fulk, Geoffrey, René, and the rest would be at a loss to recognise their old capital in the trim modern town, enough remains to show us what has been. No city standing as Angers does on rising ground above a wide river, with a mass of castle bastions sloping up [...] —it is clean and full of life, and altogether very far removed from the “black Angers” known to our ancestors. This mediæval and grm-sounding title, reminiscent of dungeons and tyrant princes, probably either meant that the ancient town was closely and squalidly built, or else referred to the dark slate with which the country abounds, and which might well have been used for buildig purposes all over the town, as we will see it in some houses by the river. [more...]

Frontispiece: Lâon, View From the Plain

The Cathedral of Lâon, or Laon, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Laon, was built in the 12th century. [more...]

Front Cover

Red with gold lettering.

Porte du Croux, Nevers

“The fourth attraction of Nevers, the high square gateway tower known as the Porte du Croux, may also be bregarded as a relic of feudal days, seeing that it dates from 1398, and was evidently part of the town’s defences. It is a noble specimen of mediæval defence, a tall gateway tower, protected, like the Porte Guillaume at Chartres, by its ancient fosse—long lancet openings running up above a low round archway and two pointed turrets flanking the hatchet-shaped central roof, with [...] [more...]