Bourges Cathedral

Bourges did what no other great French cathedral did: it left out the transept. The result is a single unbroken interior, five aisles deep, where the inner aisles rise almost to full height themselves and the eye runs the whole length without interruption. Five carved portals spread across the west front, the central one a Last Judgement with small resurrected figures climbing out of their tombs. The thirteenth-century windows in the ambulatory are among the oldest and best preserved in France, dense red and blue medallions that need time and patience to read. Below them the crypt holds the tomb effigy of John, Duke of Berry, brought here from his Sainte-Chapelle after it was pulled down in 1757.

History

Avaricum, capital of the Bituriges, was conquered by Julius Caesar, and Christianity came with Saint Ursinus around 300; a new cathedral built by Bishop Gauzelin in 1013-1030 left traces under the present building, and in 1145 Eleanor of Aquitaine was crowned Queen of France in the old cathedral. Archbishop Henri de Sully began the total rebuilding in 1195: the lower church, set into the old ramparts, was finished about 1200, the east end about 1206 and the choir about 1214, the cathedral was far enough along by 1225 to host a council against the Cathars, and the nave was done by 1235, while the roof frame of 1240-1255 took the timber of nine hundred oaks. The stained glass from the Sainte-Chapelle of John, Duke of Berry, pulled down in 1757, and his effigy were later brought into the crypt, and the cathedral was added to the World Heritage List in 1992 (Wikipedia, Bourges Cathedral).

What's there

• The five west portals - the Last Judgement carving on the central door.
• The unbroken nave - no transept, five aisles, one continuous space.
• The ambulatory windows - thirteenth-century medallion glass at readable height.
• The crypt and tower climb - the duke's effigy below, the rooftops above.

When to go

The glass needs sun, so a bright morning does more for a visit than a warm season. Spring and early autumn are quiet. Summer evenings bring a lantern-lit walking route through the old town with projections onto the monuments. Check the service times, which close the choir and ambulatory to visitors without warning.

What to expect

The interior is dark and the famous windows are hard work without binoculars or strong daylight; grey days flatten them entirely. The tower climb is a narrow spiral with a queue at peak times. Bourges is a quiet provincial city that empties on Sundays, and reaching it by train usually means a change and a slow branch line.

Nearby

The Palais Jacques-Coeur in the same streets, the marsh gardens behind the cathedral and the Sancerre vineyards east.

Key facts