THE AMBULATORY, ST.-QUIRIACE
The original tower which rose above the centre of the transept, was burned in the seventeenth century. It has been replaced by a vast zinc-covered cupola, which, while giving the church a quaint appearance, harmonises little with its style of architecture.
Saint-Quiriace is full of historical memories. King Philippe-Auguste here stood godfather to Count Thibaut-le-Grand (1201); Jeanne d'Arc and Charles VII. heard Mass in it (1429); and Louis XI., Francois I. and Louis XIV. came to take part in "Te Deum."
ENTRANCE-GATE, ST.-QUIRIACE
If the church had been finished it would be extremely large. Unfortunately, in the thirteenth century, the construction of the nave was interrupted at the second triforium, a fact which explains the very marked disproportion existing between the choir and the transept on one hand and the nave on the other.
The fabric of the choir is very imposing. It contains an elegant blind-storey gallery extending into the north and south transepts (view on p. [143]), and is surrounded by an ambulatory (view above), terminated at the east end by three square chapels.
The greater part of the church furnishings was destroyed at the Revolution; but the fine Louis XV. gate of the principal doorway still exists (view opposite), as does the wood-panelling at the end of the church on the left (photograph below).