Date

Circa 1910

The cathedral of St. Maurice is a fine representative of the regional style known as Angevin Gothic. Its characteristic single-nave construction gives it a smoothly unified exterior broken only by the two west towers. This powerful spatial unity is also evident in the clarity of the cruciform plan, with a nave of three square bays, a single bay on each arm of the transept, and a square choir bay leading to a semicircular apse. The design, however, falls into two principal phases. The nave, which is more than 20 m wide, is attributed to Bishop Normand de Doué (reigned 1149-1153), and it formed the model for the transept and eastern parts, which were built seven decades later.