Measuring 54 metres by 42 metres the cloister of Saint Etienne’s cathedral is one of the largest gothic cloisters in France.
Dating from the 13th and 14th centuries onward the cloister opens onto the garden through three large bay windows formed by two lancets and three open oculus.
The garden symbolises the earthly paradise where three worlds meet :
- The plant world shown by the carved elements on the capitals and the consoles of the frieze bordering the roof
- The animal and human worlds shown by the gargoyles and modillions
In the Garden of Eden there was a river flowing which was ‘the water of life’ and it is marked here by the well in the centre of the garden from which four alleys leave which symbolise the four secondary arms of the river: the Tigris the Euphrates the Pishon and the Gihon.
This garden is thought of as a place of meeting and expression where calm and serenity predominate.
In summer artists exhibit their work in the midst of a colourful bloom of flowering perennials.
