2 Best Sights in Burgundy, France

Historically linked more with Paris than Burgundy, Sens was the country’s ecclesiastical center for centuries. Today it's still dominated by Cathédrale St-Étienne, once the French sanctuary for Thomas à Becket and a model for England's Canterbury Cathedral. You can see the 240-foot south tower from miles away. As you draw near, the pompous 19th-century buildings lining the town's narrow main street—notably the meringue-like Hôtel de Ville—can give you a false impression; in fact, the streets leading off it near the cathedral (notably Rue Abelard and Rue Jean-Cousin) are full of medieval half-timber houses. On Monday the cathedral square is crowded with merchants' stalls, and the beautiful late-19th-century market hall—a distant cousin of Baltard's former iron-and-glass Halles in Paris—hums with people buying meat and produce. A smaller market is held on Friday morning.

Begun around 1130, the cathedral once had two towers: one was topped in 1532 by an elegant though somewhat incongruous Renaissance campanile that contained two monster bells; the other was taken down in the 19th century. Note the trefoil arches decorating the exterior of the remaining tower. The gallery, with statues of former archbishops of Sens, is a 19th-century addition, but the statue of St. Stephen (aka St-Étienne) between the doors of the central portal, is thought to date to late in the 12th century. The vast, harmonious interior is justly renowned for its stained-glass windows: the oldest (circa 1200) are in the north transept and include the stories of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son; those in the south transept were manufactured in 1500 in Troyes and include a much-admired Tree of Jesse. Stained-glass windows in the north of the chancel retrace the story of Thomas à Becket: Becket fled to Sens from England to escape the wrath of Henry II before returning to his cathedral in Canterbury, where he was murdered in 1170. Below the window—which shows him embarking on his journey in a boat, and also at the moment of his death—is a medieval statue of an archbishop said to have come from the site of Becket's home in Sens. Becket's aube (vestment) is displayed in the annex to the Palais Synodal.

The roof of the 13th-century Palais Synodal, alongside Sens's cathedral, is notable for its yellow, green, and red diamond-tile motif—incongruously added in the mid-19th century by monument restorer Viollet-le-Duc. Six grand windows and the vaulted Synodal Hall are other outstanding architectural features; the building now functions as an exhibition space. Annexed to the Palais is an ensemble of Renaissance buildings with a courtyard offering a fine view of the cathedral's Flamboyant Gothic south transept, constructed by master stonemason Martin Chambiges at the start of the 16th century (rose windows were his specialty, as you can appreciate here). Inside is a museum with archaeological finds from the Gallo-Roman period. The cathedral treasury, now on the museum's first floor, is one of the richest in France, comparable to that of Conques. It contains a collection of miters, ivories, the shrouds of St-Sivard and St-Loup, and sumptuous reliquaries. But the star of the collection is Thomas à Becket's restored brown-and-silver-edged linen robe which is displayed alongside his chasuble, stole, and sandals.