Nantes, the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul and the Marechal Foch Square - The 11th of Januay 2014 (late afternoon)

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Before heading back to the hotel I stopped by the Gothic Roman Catholic Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, whose exterior I had photographed in the morning.

Its construction which started in 1434 is said to have taken 457 years. The 5 external gates were richly decorated (three of them on the main façade and two on the sides), though I must confess I was mostly impressed by the decorative elements of St. Paul's (to the right of the main front one).

Inside the Cathedral the main attraction  was definitely the sixteenth century Carrara marble tomb of Francois II, the Duke of Brittany and his second wife Marguerite de Foix, though the bodies of both wives have been put in the same tomb.

Marguerite's  feet are seen resting against a greyhound, symbol of fidelity, whilst Francois' are lying on a lion, representing strength. At the four corners of the tomb stand four statues, each of which represents one of the cardinal virtues: Justice, Temperance, Courage and Prudence. The one allegorically representing Prudence deserved a closer look, once the rather exquisite double-side face representation, once the features of Francois's daughter Anne de Britany is represented on one side and Michel Colombe (the seventy five year old  sculptor who did it) on the other.

As I walked out I didn't resist taking two more detail oriented  of the main façade, particularly because of the luminosity.

Just before turning into Rue Marechal Joffre where the Hotel I was staying at was located I still strolled around the Marechal Foch Square, which I had also photographed early in the morning.

Despite having felt sick throughout the whole day (it was clear I had caught a cold) I did enjoy it and was determined to take some medication so as not to allow my sore throat and running nose interfere on the following day as well. The city was too beautiful and culturally active to be "left behind" ...