Featured property

The Old Walnut Mill  Delightful, spacious 2 bedroom  19th Century Loire Valley house for rent in the peaceful village of Barrou in the department of Indre et Loire,France. The village’s location halfway between the regional capitals of Tours and Poitiers makes it an ideal base to explore the Loire Valley and Vienne. 

Click here to visit owner's web site

The cathedral of Ste Croix in Orleans dominates the landscape in the impressive manner all great monuments do, its twin towers visible from most locations within the city. The first church of this name was built on this site during the 10th century - some of its foundations are preserved to this day, so it is truly historical!

Due to historical events and religious wars a variety of places of worship in a Roman or Gothic style have succeeded one another on the original site.

In 1599, Henri VIth financed  the reconstruction of the cathedral from the royal purse, before inaugurating the site in 1601.The re-construction of the cathedral took over 200 years as it only was officially inaugurated on May 8, 1829 on the occasion of the 4th anniversary of the liberation of Orleans by Joan of Arc.

The inside is as you would expect is quite spectacular and makes you wonder how such a building could be constructed when it was -- could it be done today?

There is a very grand 17 century organ to view....

......plus the naves of the Cathedral are adorned by a series of ten stained glass windows honoring  Joan of Arc. 

A good site for information on Joan is....

http://saint-joan-of-arc.com/orleans.htm

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