\b0 The city was capital of the Gallic people of the Bituriges, to whom Bourges owes its name. An impo
rtant medieval city and the home of Jacques Coeur, banker and moneylender to King Charles VII in the fifteenth century, it is famous for its cathedral of Saint-Etienne, built from 1200 to 1260. Firmly secured by its flying buttresses to the hillock that
serves as its base, it is visible from a great distance. Constructed without a transept, its nave is also unusual for its five portals on the faτade (as a general rule, Gothic cathedrals had no more than three). A throng of sculptures on the tympana of i
ts portals represent, in addition to the \i Last Judgment, Scenes from the Lives of the Virgin Mary\i0 , \i St William\i0 , \i St Stephen\i0 , and \i St Ursin\i0 , who was the first Bishop of Bourges.\par
