Angers Cathedral

Stand at the foot of the long stone staircase and look up. The steps climb from the river towards a pale facade, and the stone under your feet is smooth and worn. Above you, three towers rise against the sky. Behind you, the River Maine moves slowly past the old quays. Take a breath before the climb, because the view grows with every step.

This is the Cathedral of Saint Maurice, the mother church of Angers. Saint Maurice was a Roman soldier. Tradition says he led a legion of Christian troops from Egypt, and he died rather than obey an order against his faith. His story was popular across medieval Europe. Here in Angers, he became the patron of the city's great church, and you will meet him again on the facade.

The staircase itself is called the Montée Saint-Maurice. It links the river to the hilltop where the cathedral stands. As you climb, notice the colours of the town around you. Angers has a nickname, the black city, because so many roofs are covered in dark local slate. That dark slate sits beside a soft, creamy limestone. The contrast is everywhere — dark roofs above pale walls.

Now look at the main portal. The carving dates from the twelfth century, the period when Romanesque style, with its round arches and heavy walls, was giving way to Gothic. In the tympanum, the half-moon panel above the doors, Christ sits in majesty. Around him are the four symbols of the Gospel writers — a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. Tall column statues of kings and prophets stand at each side of the doors.

Here is something many visitors miss. For centuries, a covered porch stood in front of this portal and sheltered the carvings. When the old porch was removed, the sculpture was exposed to the weather. Recent restoration work found traces of original paint on the stone. Medieval churches were often brightly coloured, not plain grey. Look closely in the folds of the robes, and you may still see hints of red, blue and gold.

Lift your eyes higher. Above the portal runs a gallery of standing figures, dressed as armoured warriors. These are Saint Maurice and his companions, the soldiers of his legion. This row of statues was added in the sixteenth century, long after the portal below. Above them, you can see something unusual. Between the two spires stands a third, central tower. Three towers side by side on one facade are rare in France.

Now step inside, and let your eyes adjust to the light. The first surprise is the space. There are no side aisles. The nave is one single, wide hall, open from wall to wall. Then look up at the ceiling. The vaults do not form flat, pointed panels. Each section of the vault curves upwards like a shallow dome, with stone ribs running across it.

This is the style called Angevin Gothic, sometimes called Plantagenet Gothic, after the powerful family who ruled Anjou and, for a time, England. These domed vaults were built in the twelfth century. They are among the earliest Gothic vaults in western France. Builders here found their own answer to a big question — how to cover a wide space in stone. The answer spread to many churches across this region.

The Plantagenet connection matters. The counts of Anjou were based in this city. One of them, Henry, became King Henry the Second of England in the twelfth century. So the family that built in this style also ruled lands from Scotland's border to the Pyrenees. When you stand in this nave, you stand in the home region of a medieval dynasty that shaped both France and England.

Now turn to the windows. Angers Cathedral keeps some of the oldest stained glass in France, with panels from the twelfth century. Later windows were added in the following centuries, including large rose windows in the transepts, the arms of the cross-shaped plan. The early glass is deep and dense in colour. Stand still for a moment and watch how the light changes as clouds pass outside.

At the west end, above the entrance, look for the organ. Its large wooden case dates from the eighteenth century. It rests on the shoulders of carved giants, figures called atlantes, who seem to carry the whole instrument. Further east, in the choir, lies the tomb of King René of Anjou, a fifteenth-century ruler. He was a patron of art and books. His wife, Isabella of Lorraine, was buried here with him.

René left the cathedral an extraordinary gift — the Apocalypse Tapestry. This enormous woven work tells the story of the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. It was made in the fourteenth century for an earlier duke of Anjou. For centuries it belonged to this church. It was damaged and nearly lost after the French Revolution, then recovered. Today it hangs in the château, a short walk away.

Before you leave, stand again by the doors and look back down the nave. Notice how quiet the space is, and how the domed vaults hold the light. Then step outside, onto the top of the staircase. The river lies below, the slate roofs spread out around you, and the pale stone is warm in the sun. As you walk down, look back once more at the three towers watching over the town.