ANGERS AND THE AUTHION,France,Antique Map

HISTORICAL MAP CHART

ANGERS, a city of western France, capital of the department of Maine-et-Loire, 191 m. S.W. of Paris by the Western railway to Nantes.It occupies rising ground on both banks of the Maine, which are united by three bridges. The surrounding district is famous for its flourishing nurseries and market gardens. Pierced with wide, straight streets, well provided with public gardens, and surrounded by ample, tree-lined boulevards, beyond which lie new suburbs, Angers is one of the pleasantest towns in France. Of its numerous medieval buildings the most important is the cathedral of St Maurice, dating in the main from the 12th and 13th centuries. Between the two flanking towers of the west facade, the spires of which are of the 16th century, rises a central tower of the same period. The most prominent feature of the fagade is the series of eight warriors carved on the base of this tower. The vaulting of the nave takes the form of a series of cupolas, and that of the choir and transept is similar. The bishop's palace which adjoins the cathedral contains a fine synodal hall of the 12th century. Of the other churches of Angers, the principal are St Serge, an abbey-church of the 12th and 13th centuries, and La Trinite (12 th century). The prefecture occupies the buildings of the famous abbey of St Aubin; in its courtyard are elaborately sculptured arcades of the 11th and 2th centuries, from which period dates the tower, the only survival of the splendid abbey-church. Ruins of the old churches of Toussaint (13th century) and Notre-Dame du Ronceray (nth century) are also to be seen. The castle of Angers, an imposing building girt with towers and a moat, dates from the 13th century and is now used as an armoury. The ancient hospital of St Jean (12th century) is occupied by an archaeological museum; and the Logis Barrault, a mansion built about 1500, contains the public library, the municipal museum, which has a large collection of pictures and sculptures, and the Musee David, containing works by the famous sculptor David d'Angers, who was a native of the town. One of his masterpieces, a bronze statue of Rene of Anjou, stands close by the castle. The Hotel de Pince or d'Anjou (1523-1530) is the finest of the stone mansions of Angers; there are also many curious wooden houses of the 15th and 16th centuries.

1890s Wood Engraving, Antique Map

Approximate Overall Size: 7 X 10 1/2 inches

CONDITION: Book Plate INTEXT MAP - Excellent Condition. Beautiful with excellent detail. There is Text on Front and Back Side.