Cathedral Cities of France (page 1/2)

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Title Page from Cathedral Cities of France

Cathedral Cities of France, by Herbert Marshall, R.W.S. and Hester Marshall With sixty illustrations in colour by Herbert Marshall, R.W.S. [more...] [$]

Front Cover

Red with gold lettering. [$]

Poitiers.

Saint Pierre at Poitiers [...] certain characteristics it has which connect it with the Angevin style, but unlike most of the Angevin churches, it has aisles throughout. From the outside the appearance is that of a single mass, long and low, and very wide, for the aisles are nearly as broad as the nave; as at Bourges, there is no central tower at the [...] out, no sign either of choir or sanctuary. The tran- septs are more like side chapels with altars on their eastern walls. There is no sign of northern influ- ence, and the church is in many of its features unique and without imitators. Certain details of construc- tion bring it into line with St. Maurice at Angers; it is an ordinary example of the churches of Poitou, with their three naves of equal height and Byzantine cupolas. [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...] [$]

Chartres

Chartres Cathedral, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, “Cathedral of Our Lady in Chartres” was rebuilt in the 13th century after it was destroyed by lightning in 1194. [more...] [$]