Bourges Cathedral

Bourges Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church located in Bourges, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Stephen and is the seat of the Archbishop of Bourges. It is within the Gothic and Romanesque architectural styles. The site occupied with the aid of the prevailing cathedral, in what was as soon as the northeastern nook of the Gallo-Roman walled town, has been the web site of the metropolis's main church at the least due to the fact Carolingian instances and in all likelihood since the foundation of the bishopric in the 3rd century. The gift Cathedral turned into built as a alternative for a mid-11th-century structure, traces of which live to tell the tale within the crypt.

The date when construction started out is unknown, even though a report of 1195 recording expenditure on rebuilding works shows that creation became already underway by way of that date. Bourges Cathedral is awesome for the simplicity of its plan, which did with out transepts but which adopted the double-aisled layout found in earlier excessive-repute churches including the Early-Christian basilica of St Peter's in Rome or in Notre Dame de Paris. The double aisles keep without interruption beyond the placement of the display now largely destroyed even though some fragments are preserved inside the crypt to form a double ambulatory across the choir.