The Cathedrals of Southern France

Carved choir stalls, cathedral façades and the changing fortunes of bishoprics give this architectural travel book its range. M. F. Mansfield surveys southern France by region, moving from the country south of the Loire through the Rhône valley and Mediterranean coast to the basin of the Garonne. Alongside accounts of individual churches, the volume includes illustrations, plans, maps and tables of architectural styles and dimensions.

The descriptions mix close observation with outspoken judgments. At Bourg, the author contrasts the richly decorated Gothic church of Brou with the former cathedral of Notre Dame, then examines its altar, polygonal apse and unusual arrangement of wooden stalls. Notes on earlier dioceses connect buildings with church history and local geography. Readers interested in religious architecture can use these detailed accounts to see which features caught an earlier traveller's eye, from carved furnishings to the relationship between a church's exterior and interior.