filled in with magnificent glass.
The interior possesses nothing remarkable, excepting its fine rose
window and the opposite east window, distinguished for their size and
tracery.

The tower is its glory. It is richly ornamented, and surmounted by a
cornice so projecting that, until the eye becomes accustomed to it, the
slender tower beneath seems overweighted: an impression not quite lost
at a first visit. The light and graceful tower, two hundred and
sixty-three feet high, rises between the nave and the choir, upon four
arches sustained by four quadrangular pillars four yards wide, composed
of innumerable small columns almost resembling bundles of rods, in which
the arms of Jean Pregent, Chancellor of Brittany and Bishop of Leon in
1436, may be seen on the keystone of each arch. The upper tower, like
those of the cathedral, is pierced by narrow bays, supported on either
side by false bays. From the upper platform, with its four-leaved
balustrade, rises the beautiful open-work spire, somewhat resembling
that of St. Peter's at Caen, and flanked by four turrets. This tower is
said to have been built by an English architect, but there is no
authority for the tradition.

Proceeding onwards to the market-place, there rises the cathedral, far
better placed than many of the cathedrals abroad. It is one of the
remarkable buildings of Brittany, possessing certain distinguishing
features peculiar to the Breton churches.

The cathedral dates from three periods. A portion of the north transept
is Romanesque; the nave, west front, and towers date from the thirteenth
century and the commencement of the fourteenth; the interior, almost
entirely Gothic, and very striking, lost much of its beauty when
restored in 1866. It is two hundred and sixty feet long and fifty-two
feet high to the vaulting, the latter being attributed to William of
Rochefort, who was Bishop of Leon in 1349. The towers are very fine,
with central storeys pierced by lancet windows, like those of the
Creisker. The south transept has a fine circular window, with tracery
cut in granite.

[Illustration: INTERIOR OF CATHEDRAL, ST. POL DE LEON.]

The stalls, the chief beauty of the choir, are magnificently carved, and
date from 1512. The choir, completely surrounded by a stone screen, is
larger and more ornamented than the nave, and is surrounded by double
aisles, ending in a Lady Chapel possessing some good carved woodwork of
the sixteenth century.

The towers