In two of the photographs on this page, you can see the doorways of Cathedral of St Andrews in Bordeaux which I believe
is the cathedral mentioned in Anya Seton’s Katherine. I say I believe because there are actually 3 cathedrals
in Bordeaux . However, this is the nearest one to the site of the then royal palace and is situated in the medieval
town area of Bordeaux .
The cathedral today dates from 15th-16th century and not much remains
from the one that John of Gaunt would have known. But it is the Abbey St Andre where Eleanor of Aquitaine married Louis VII,
where Richard II was born and where the Black Prince conferred the ‘captainship’ of Aquitaine on John of Gaunt.
Not much of medieval Bordeaux remains building wise of this but the layout of the modern city still runs along
the same streets. I have a plan of the area from the guidebook showing the outline of the medieval town. You can
see the proximity of the Cathedral to the palace and the site of the palace is now the Place de Bourse. The church of
St Peters , although nearer, is not and has never been considered a cathedral so I am eliminating that. Click on the link
for a
map of Bordeaux, showing St Andrew's Cathedral.
The clock gate picture is the Grosse-Cloche –
built in the 15th century on the top of the remains of the gate of St-Eliot, it’s the name of the belfry of the former
city hall.
Photos and text by Susan Wakefield
