Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Nantes

The Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Nantes is the principal religious building of Nantes, Pays de la Loire, a Gothic structure of striking vertical ambition that was under construction from 1434 until 1891 — a building campaign lasting over four centuries. Despite this long chronology, the interior presents remarkable visual unity, its white Touraine stone columns and vaulting rising to a height of 37.5 metres — higher than the nave of Notre-Dame de Paris — to create one of the most luminous Gothic interiors in France. The nave is flooded with light from large clerestory windows and rose windows, supplemented by coloured glass in the side chapels. The southern transept houses the monumental tomb of François II, Duke of Brittany, and his wife Marguerite de Foix, completed between 1502 and 1507 by sculptor Michel Colombe — one of the finest works of French Renaissance funerary art. Four allegorical figures representing Prudence, Justice, Strength, and Temperance stand at the corners of the marble sarcophagus. The cathedral suffered severe fire damage in 1972 and underwent decades of restoration; the fire also destroyed the nineteenth-century stained glass, replaced in the 1990s with abstract works by artist Jean-Michel Alberola in the north transept. The exterior west facade, though never fully completed according to the original Gothic plan, presents a distinctive twin-towered appearance. Entry is free at all times. The cathedral is directly adjacent to the Château des Ducs de Bretagne, making a combined visit natural and easy.