Not part of the château circuit, bustling Bourges has preserved its history with its maze of wonderful-to-explore narrow medieval cobblestone streets and its massively impressive Cathédrale St-Étienne. Henri de Sully began work on the Gothic masterpiece in 1195; the second stage of construction came in 1230, resulting in the five front sculpted doors. Among its most impressive features is a series of stained glass windows featuring craftsmen at work; and its astronomical clock, designed in 1424 by a local mathematician and astronomer, painted by Jean d'Orléans and presented to Charles VII upon his marriage to Marie d'Anjou. The oldest astronomical clock conserved in France, it was fully rehabilitated 570 years later and is stunningly exact.
