Auch Cathedral

We were pretty impressed with Auch's 16th century cathedral (Basilica of St. Mary (of course)), so I will devote this and a couple more posts to it, its stained glass and carvings. Our visit began quite well. An older Auch resident noticed us gawking in the alley on the south side (the mother-in-law alley, so-called) and--he said he just wanted to practice his English--proceeded to give us a good bit of the history of the church and its construction.

The exterior is nice enough

South-side view of tower

Every decade or so they documented how far they had gotten
in the construction (1544)

Napoleon's proposal to move Auch's windows and carvings to
Paris never got realized--he went on to other things-- but the
town did do this nice tribute on a building facing the cathedral

Nave

Another famous organ

Rose window

Altar

Outside artsy view