auxerre

Auxerre

town, capital of Yonne departement, Bourgogne region, central France, on the Yonne River. The town, which flourished in pre-Roman and Roman days, became the seat of a bishop and a civitas (provincial capital) in the 3rd century. It was united to France by Louis XI in the 1400s. Auxerre's most notable landmark, the Cathedral of Saint-Etienne (13th-16th-century Gothic), has three sculptured doorways and a rose window on the west front. A massive tower rises in the northwest corner. The early Gothic choir and the apsidal chapel contain some of the best 13th-century stained glass in France. The Church of Saint-Eusebe (founded 7th century) shows styles from the 12th to the 16th century. Below the Church of Saint-Germain, crypts of the 9th century contain tombs of the bishops of Auxerre.

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