Nevers

This is the centre of the town where the nearby attractions are 17th-century Baroque Sainte-Marie chapel and the 15th-century Palais ducal, the latter of which claims to be the earliest Loire chateau, with its stone carved Renaissance façade and octagonal turrets.

The incorrupt body of Saint Bernadette rests here enshrined since 1925 in a glass and bronze casket. The church is run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. The visit to Nevers is recommended as a natural follow-up to the pilgrimage to Lourdes in southern France. Here there is a replica of the Grotto of Massabielle, where Bernadette saw the 18 Apparitions of Mother Mary. After the Apparitions in Lourdes in 1858, Bernadette Soubirous joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers in 1866. She lived there until her death. Finally, a museum retraces the saint's life amongst the Congrégation des Soeurs de la Charité de Nevers.

The chapel, built during the first half of the 17th century, is the only remaining part of the former Couvent des Visitandines. It has extraordinary Baroque-style façade, which is unique in the Nevers region.

The Palais ducal was the home of the Counts and Dukes of Nevers. It was at the initiative of Jean de Clamecy, who was looking to affirm his power, that the building was constructed around 1460. The architecture is inspired by the Gothic style of the Renaissance period as can be seen in the symmetry and regular lines of the façade, and in the decoration of the dormer windows.

The highest point of the Nevers town centre is the Cathedral, built between the 10th to the 16th centuries. Its oldest feature, the remains of a 6th-century baptistery, was found only in 1944, after it was revealed by heavy bombing in World War II. The blown out windows have now been replaced by stunning modern stained glass.