The church of St. Taurinus offers some valuable specimens of ancient architecture.—­The southern transept still preserves a row of Norman arches, running along the lower part of its west side, as well as along its front; but those above them are pointed.  To the south are six circular arches, divided into two compartments, in each of which the central arch has formerly served for a window.  Both the lateral ones are filled with coeval stone-work, whose face is carved into lozenges, which were alternately coated with blue and red mortar or stucco:  distinct traces of the coloring are still left in the cavities[43].  To the eastern side of this transept is attached, as at St. Georges, a small chapel, of semi-circular architecture, now greatly in ruins.  The interior of the church is all comparatively modern, with the exception of some of the lower arches on the north side.—­A strange and whimsical vessel for holy water attracted our attention.  I cannot venture to guess at its date, but I do not think it is more recent than the fourteenth century.

[Illustration:  Vessel for holy water]

The principal curiosity of the church, and indeed of the town, is the shrine, which contained, or perhaps, contains, a portion of the bones of the patron saint, whose body, after having continued for more than three hundred years a hidden treasure, was at last revealed in a miraculous manner to the prayers of Landulphus, one of his successors in the episcopacy.—­The cathedral of Chartres, in early ages, set up a rival claim for the possession of this precious relic; but its existence here was formally verified at the end of the seventeenth century, by the opening of the chasse, in which a small quantity of bones was found tied up in a leather bag, with a certificate of their authenticity, signed by an early bishop.—­The shrine is of silver-gilt, about one and a half foot in height and two feet in length:  it is a fine specimen of ancient art.  In shape it resembles the nave of a church, with the sides richly enchased with figures of saints and bishops.  Our curious eyes would fain have pried within; but it was closed with the impression of the archbishop’s signet.—­A crypt, the original burial place of St. Taurinus, is still shewn in the church, and it continues to be the object of great veneration.  It is immediately in front of the high altar, and is entered by two staircases, one at the head, the other at the foot of the coffin.  The vault is very small, only admitting of the coffin and of a narrow passage by its side.  The sarcophagus, which is extremely shallow, and neither wide nor long, is partly imbedded in the wall, so that the head and foot and one side alone are visible.—­A portion of the monastic buildings of St. Taurinus now serves as a seminary for the catholic priesthood.