[1] The Cathėdrale St-Étienne on the Place du Gėnėral de Gaulle in Saint-Brieuc has the look of a fortress, and did, in fact, fulfil the role of a church-fortress ("cathédrale-forteresse") on many occasions when the town was laid siege to in earlier times.

The cathedral has an 18th-century pulpit and some interesting Stations of the Cross carved in 1958 by Georges Saupique Brieuc was born in the 5th or 6th-century in Wales and at an early age was entrusted to the care of Saint Germain.

He decided to travel to the Armorican peninsula and set off with a group of monks, his mission to convert the local people to Christianity.

He founded a monastery at what is now Tréguier but when called back to Wales because of a terrible plague there, he left his nephew Tugdual in charge.

Over one hundred years later the cathedral suffered much damage at the hands of the English during the destructive War of the Breton Succession and then by a fire at the end of 1353.

After the fire, Bishop Guy de Montfort made the reconstruction a priority and started work on the choir which was completed between 1354 and 1357.

Then Bishop Jean de Malestroit reconstructed the gable of the north wing of the transept and had a magnificent window installed there, sadly destroyed by the storm of 1735.

By the beginning of the 15th century, the cathedral was finished and between 1460 and 1472, Bishop John Prigent began the construction of the chapel of the Annunciation.

[3] The remains of many canons of the cathedral are buried under the paving of the south aisle of the nave and an enfeu holds the tomb of Monseigneur Le Porc de la Porte who died in 1632 and was bishop at Saint-Brieuc from 1618 to 1632.

To the right of the last three crossings is the Chapelle de l'Annonciation whilst along the north side of the nave is the Porche du Martray and the Sacristy.

The north wing of the transept had some beautiful fenestration dating to the early 15th century, but this was destroyed in a huge storm in 1735.

The Choir is surrounded by a circular ambulatory from which emerge various side chapels The West Porch is the best entrance to use to access the cathedral.

Once inside six steps lead down to the floor of the nave and from here one has a good view of the altar erected at the crossing of the transept.

The west porch was first built in the 15th century at the time the south tower was erected and was completely rebuilt in 1888.

Two doors give access to the cathedral, and the trumeau is decorated with a standing Virgin Mary which came from the Chapelle Saint-Colomban in Peumerit-Quintin.

[3]The north gable of the transept has a large window destroyed during the French Revolution and completely replaced in 1852.

The gable of the south transept has an ornate 15th-century window in the "flamboyant" style an addition which owed much to the generosity of Olivier de Clisson.

[6] The master altar is located in the centre of the transept and the choir area is surrounded by an ambulatory with 12th-century stylobates and columns which give access to various side chapels.

On the exterior wall is a tomb thought to be the burial place of Bishop Guillaume VI Anger who died in 1404.

Now on the south side of the ambulatory, we encounter the Chapelle Sainte-Anne which was established by Christophe de Penmarc'h between 1471 and 1505.

The next chapel is the Chapelle Saint Yves which dates to the 15th century and was commissioned by Christophe de Penmarc'h and his brother Louis.

The chapel contains the 19th-century tombstone of Monseigneur Bouché and a 19th-century black bronze figure of Christ by Just André François Becquet, the French sculptor born in Besançon in 1829 and who died in Paris in 1907.

[6] The Chapelle des Reliques is the final chapel off the south side of the choir and can be traced back to the 13th century.

The altar had been made originally for the chapel of the "Filles de la Croix" and had been saved during the revolution.

When in the 17th century the fonts were moved to a spot near to the Porche du Martray, the chapel was renamed the Chapelle de Saint-Joseph.

In earlier days his tomb which dated to the 15th century was located in the Chapelle de l'Annonciation but this was smashed during the revolution.

The panels from left to right depict Mary's birth, The Annunciation and the visit to Elizabeth, the Dormition and Assumption (this a modern piece the original having been destroyed accidentally), the Nativity, Jesus' presentation in the temple and Pope Pie IX proclaiming Mary's Immaculate Conception.

He founded Saint-Brieuc's école Saint-Charles, Guingamp's Notre-Dame institute and the Saint-Joseph college at Quintin.

By the entrance to the ambulatory a grilled door leads to the Chapelle des reliques called La Petite Trésorerie.

These seven saints were Celtic monks from Britain from around the 5th or 6th century who brought Christianity to Armorica and founded its first bishoprics.