not one of great splendour, partakes
in no small measure of the attributes of a large metropolis, amply
planned, beautifully laid out, and possessing, in addition to the
characteristics of Brittany with which it has been so long identified,
not a little of the influences and attributes of the south.

Immediately to the rear of the chateau is the Cathedral of St. Pierre,
ancient as to its foundation, and grand as to its general effect, both
inside and out, though its exterior is marred by its uncompleted towers.
Lofty, but of heavy proportions, St. Pierre de Nantes would, at first
sight, appear to offer much that goes to make a satisfying
ecclesiastical building. As a matter of fact, it fails in many
particulars to realize any ideal which we have come to admire. The
western facade is more indebted to the rich and reasonably ornate
portals for its undeniable impressiveness, than to the gable of towers,
which have crumbled exceedingly from the effects of wind and weather,
rather than of great age, since they date only from the fifteenth
century.

The choir rests on the remains of an older church, hardly to be seen
to-day in any appreciable evidence, in that restoration and rebuilding
have been so extensively carried on.

The windows throughout are but weak decorative elements, and lack
tracery and glass of a decorative quality, an obvious detraction in any
great architectural work. The south transept shows indications of four
successive periods of construction, and contains the best glass in the
church; otherwise it is severely plain.

The interior is by no means as incoherent as the exterior, the height of
the nave, one hundred and thirty feet, giving an otherwise
unapproachable grandeur; though this admirable dimension is qualified to
no small degree by a triforium of a luxurious florid growth, little in
keeping with the other attributes of firmness and strength.

The chapels throughout are bare and uninteresting so far as their altars
or decorative embellishments are concerned,--what they may be at some
future time, if the _Art Nouveau_ gets a foothold in church decoration,
is fearful to contemplate. Paintings, none too common in French
churches, are here somewhat in excess of customary numbers, though, as
to quality or interest, in no church in France can they vie with those
of the great churches of Italy or Flanders.

Like the neighbouring city of Tours, Nantes has in its cathedral, for
its _piece de resistance