Tue 20th May: The City of Troyes

Troyes is the main town for this region, 15 miles from the campsite. We’ve driven past it numerous times over the years on our way south but never stopped, so now’s our chance to remedy that oversight.

It was founded by the Romans at a junction of several roads, but there’s little remaining from that era. It really came into its own as a commercial centre in the Middle Ages when it established a system of weighing gold that is still used today, called Troy weight.

We had no trouble free parking near the centre, in the vicinity of the 12^th century cathedral, an impressive building. Near the entrance is a plaque commemorating the reconquest of the city from the English in 1429 by Joan of Arc.

The inside is fairly plain and austere, with massive pillars, but has some beautiful early 1500’s stained glass. This is the rose window, with the sun shining through but you just can’t properly catch those colours in a photo. Well maybe the professionals can. And anyway, who was this Rose after whom all these lovely windows were named?

The most artistic church feature wasn’t in the cathedral, but at the Sainte-Madeleine church. It’s a rood screen, superbly carved from stone, but don’t go looking for naughty carved figures, it’s not that kind of rude!

It was carved by a certain Jean Gailde who had been turned down for more major construction work on the church, but was allowed to do this bit. It is said he focussed all of his skill on making a superb job as a kind of ‘up yours’ gesture to the church authorities. He was even buried beneath it. No it didn’t collapse on him as he chiselled out the finishing touches to the underside.

Despite a disastrous fire in 1524, central Troyes has all the appearance of a well preserved medieval town. There are more medieval buildings than I have ever seen in one place. Here are some examples of the hundreds still standing.

You could hardly swing a cat in this alley. It’s called Rue de la Chatte, or cat street. Yes it’s all a bit touristy with numerous cafes and restaurants but it does at least generate enough cash to preserve the buildings.

There are also fine parks and buildings from later periods on the edge of the old quarter. It all gives the city a really nice-to-live-in feel.

As ever, small details catch the eye. This is a carved wooden beam support; I’m not sure that a photo taken from a window above the beam would have been publishable.