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Off to the head of the cork!
Have fun discovering the historic heart of Troyes! From St-Urbain to the Cathedral…
Photo credit © Sergey Novikov – Fotolia
From St-Urbain to the Cathedral...
Seen from above, the historic heart of Troyes is shaped like a champagne cork!
The bottom of the cork (on the town hall side) is called the BODY, while the top of the cork (on the cathedral side) is called the HEAD.
So, let’s head for the head of the cork! From the Basilica of St-Urbain to the Cathedral of St-Pierre St-Paul, via the street “rue Gambey” or “The Heart of Troyes”, wander the streets of the district and discover the most beautiful places while learning all sorts of surprising things!
Did you know ?
Jacques Pantaléon, the son of a cobbler from Troy, who was elected Pope in 1261 under the name of Urban IV, had a collegiate church built on the site of his father’s former cobbler’s shop.
A masterpiece of radiant Gothic art with its perfect proportions, lacy stonework and immense stained-glass windows, the Basilica of Saint-Urbain is often compared to La Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.
Work on St Urbain’s basilica was interrupted for several years by the abbess of Notre-Dame-aux-Nonnains abbey, who sent men-at-arms to devastate the site and even beat up the workers! The Pope, outraged, excommunicated the abbess and her accomplices… and the collegiate church was finally finished!
Les travaux de la basilique St Urbain ont été interrompus pendant plusieurs années à cause de l’abbesse de l’abbaye Notre-Dame-aux-Nonnains qui envoya des hommes d’armes pour dévaster le chantier et même rosser les ouvriers ! Le pape excédé excommunia l’abbesse et ses complices… et la collégiale put enfin être terminée !
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Le savais-tu ?
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the bridge you are standing on could turn on a spindle fixed to the spot where the geese are resting, allowing barges to pass on the Haute-Seine canal.
