The most ancient parts of the cathedral do not date back beyond the 13th century.
The nave has eight bays—it was completed in the 14th century; at the top of the fourth bay it is flanked by two square towers.
The north tower is the tower of the Mutte, so called from the municipal bell hung there. It is topped with a beautiful spire which forms an excellent observation post over the surrounding country.
Here was the post of the look-out man who had to report fires. On the other side of the nave rises the tower of the Chapter which was finished in 1839. A monumental door opens at the base of each of these towers.
Another tower, polygonal and smaller, called the Tour de l'Horloge, is added to the south aisle. On each side of the choir, where the branches of the transept meet, rise the two small towers of Charlemagne, so called in memory of those which stood in the Roman building. They lead by spiral staircases to the outside terraces which run along the cathedral.
While the nave is 13th century, the transept dates from the 15th, and the choir, built over a huge sepulchral crypt, is contemporaneous with the last period of Gothic art.
The interior of the Cathedral.
(Cliché LL.)