Cathedrale Ste-Croix Review

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Cathédrale Ste-Croix

  • Address: Pl. Ste-Croix, Orléans, 45000

Fodor's Review:

The Cathédrale Ste-Croix is a riot of pinnacles and gargoyles, both Gothic and pseudo-Gothic, embellished with 18th-century wedding-cake towers. After most of the cathedral was destroyed in the 16th century during the Wars of Religion, Henry IV and his successors rebuilt it. Novelist Marcel Proust (1871-1922) called it France's ugliest church, but most find it impressive. Inside are vast quantities of stained glass and 18th-century wood carvings, plus the modern Chapelle de Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc Chapel), with plaques in memory of British and American war dead.

  • Open: Daily 9:15-noon and 2:15-6
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