Collégiale Saint-Étienne

The great Gothic church of Auxerre is the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne, and it dominates the old town from a terrace above the Yonne river. Its construction began in the early thirteenth century, under Bishop Guillaume de Seignelay, who replaced an older Romanesque church, and work continued for several centuries, so that the building shows the passage from the early Gothic style to the flamboyant. The facade has a single completed tower, since the second was never finished, and the asymmetry gives the front a distinctive look. The doorways are richly carved, with scenes from the Bible and from everyday life, and although the figures were badly damaged in the sixteenth-century religious wars and the Revolution, enough survives to give an idea of the original wealth of decoration.

The real glory of the interior is the stained glass. The cathedral preserves one of the most important collections of medieval glass in Burgundy, with windows from the thirteenth century in the choir, where deep blues and reds still glow, and later windows from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in the nave and chapels, showing a gradual change in style and technique. Standing in the choir on a sunny morning, with coloured light falling on the stone, is one of the best experiences the town offers. The vaults rise to a considerable height, and the proportions have a lightness typical of Gothic builders.

Below the choir lies the crypt, which is a survivor from the earlier Romanesque church of the eleventh century. Its low vaults and heavy columns contrast with the airy Gothic above, and on the vault, there is a rare wall painting of Christ on a white horse, an unusual and striking image of a warrior Christ, dating from the Romanesque period. The treasury, which can be visited with the crypt, holds liturgical objects, reliquaries and paintings, among them Luca Penni's Deposition from the Cross, a sixteenth-century work in the Italian manner connected to the school of Fontainebleau.

Auxerre has other highlights close by. The Abbey of Saint-Germain, below the cathedral, preserves an early Carolingian crypt with frescoes from the ninth century, among the oldest in France, and the Musée Saint-Germain occupies the abbey buildings, with the Caveaux de l'Abbaye Saint-Germain, the abbey cellars, adding to the visit. The old town also has half-timbered houses, a clock tower from the fifteenth century and pleasant quays along the Yonne. The Théâtre d'Auxerre hosts performances, and the vineyards of Chablis lie a short drive to the east.

Allow an hour or two. It suits architecture lovers and people who enjoy stained glass. Entry to the church is generally free, but there may be a charge for the crypt and treasury, and hours vary.