Bourges, located at the confluence of the Yèvre and the Auron, was known as Avaricum in the Gallo-Roman times. It was conquered by Caesar in 52 BC and became the capital and residence of the dukedom Berry in the Middle Ages. It owes its economic and cultural heritage to its dukes but especially to Jacques Coeur, financier and foreign minister to Charles VII. Coeur was one of the greatest merchansts of the Middle Ages, a self-made man and apatron of the arts. He commissioned the illuminated manuscript Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. He was also an arms dealer, a tradition the city maintains today as the center of the French armaments industry. Bourges is also the capital of the Département Cher, the seat of a bishop, a university town and a cultural mecca renowned for its spring festival of music and dance.
The cathedral St-Etienne, built around 1200-1260, is the widest Gothic cathedral in France and the one most similar to Paris's Notre Dame. The west façade (55m wide) is flanked by two massive towers, has a very nice rose window, and has five sculpted portals, the central one depicting the Last Judgment (see below). In the choir are vivid 13th century stained-glass windows presented by the guilds. Just outside you can stroll in a beautiful flower garden.
Architectural plans and more pictures of St-Etienne
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