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The exterior of the twelfth-century Cathedrale St-Etienne (daily: April-Sept 8am-7.30pm; Oct-March 8am-6.30pm; 32F/?4.88) 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 is modelled on Notre-Dame in Paris but incorporates improvements on the latter's design, such as the increased height of the inner aisles, which appear to ascend almost to vanishing point. 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 whose faces are alive with expression and bodies full of movement. 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. A cauldron filling with merry souls - one of whom appears to be wearing a bishop's mitre - contrasts sorely with the depiction of the gloomy-looking saved, while God, sitting in judgement, appears exceptionally sanctimonious. The interior's best feature is its mostly twelfth- to thirteenth-century stained glass . There are geometric designs in lovely muted colours in the main body of the cathedral, but the most glorious and astonishingly bright windows 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 Apocalyse - binoculars come in handy for picking up the exquisite detail. But the most memorable way of seeing the cathedral is to come on a Sunday morning, when the powerful eighteenth-century organ is played, or to attend one of the concerts on Tuesday evenings. In the crypt , you can see the design of the fourteenth-century rose window of the west front cut into the floor, suggesting that this was where it was assembled. Tickets for guided visits to the crypt (closed Sun morning; 32F/?4.88) also allow you to climb to the top of the north tower , rebuilt in Flamboyant style after the original collapsed in 1506.
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