Coutances
is Gothic. It's a curious mixture, but it seems to work – especially after a recent, painstaking and very successful restoration.
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Coutances |
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| Eglise Saint-Pierre | |
| At some point during the building of Saint-Pierre, a
travelling mason came running into the church and yelled,
'Stop, lads, stop! The Gothic is over, it's all Renaissance neo-classicism now!'
After a brief conference it was
decided not to knock things down and start again, but to add a few Classical
touches to the upper stories
which were still left to do. So the top of the west tower is classical, and the
central lantern; but all the rest is Gothic. It's a curious mixture, but it seems to work – especially after a recent, painstaking and very successful restoration. |
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The font cover is a jewel in itself:
Before and after restoration:
