Saint-Pierre gate

As you approach the back of the cathedral, you come across the best-kept remnants of Nantes’ medieval period, the Saint-Pierre gate, which allowed passage through the city walls. Dated from the 15th century, it is Gothic in style and rests on foundations from the Gallo-Roman era. You have to imagine it protected by a drawbridge over a wide defensive ditch and flanked by two imposing towers. If it also features beautiful dormer windows, it is because in the early 16th century, Bishop Guéguen had the episcopal palace, now disappeared, enlarged to construct a residence above the tower. King Henry IV is said to have entered Nantes through this gateway in 1598 to sign the famous Edict of Nantes, putting an end to the never-ending conflict between Catholics and Protestants. In 2012, archaeological digs revealed the presence of a necropolis nearby. Merovingian sarcophagi were found, indicating that the necropolis was used between the 6th and 8th centuries, but the appearance of much older funerary stelae shows that the site was already used as a cemetery between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD. Like all the crowned heads who passed here before you, please walk through Porte Saint-Pierre to the cathedral’s forecourt.